A Social Audit 
of 
A Social Service Agency 


The Jewish Aid Society 
and 


The Jewish Social Service Bureau of Chicago 


1919 to 1925 


By 


Maurice J. Karpr | 


A Social Audit 
of 
A Social Service Agency 


The Jewish Aid Society 
and 


The Jewish Social Service Bureau of Chicago 


1919 to 1925 


By 


Maurice J. KArRpF 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Page 
Index to Tables, Charts and Illustrations......... 4/4 Jf /.4....-- ££ 
Index.to Appendixes et eee ee er OF Sy 10 
ietter ofl ransniittalern ee eee ae ee 11 
Officers, Board of Directors, Standing’ Committees and’ Bx- 
ecutives May 1919) to‘ December 31, 1924220 eee 13 
Administrativetotatiias.ot Weceniber 19244, 8 2 ee eee 19 
Gireanizations Ghar tee ee Pr te aed ee en eae 21 
Boreword'.... ere cm ae Pe 22} eb eee ne me eee Baker 22 
PA REDAAL 
SECTION 1] 


EARLY PROBLEMS 


Before the Amalgamation — January 1, 1919 to January 1, 
1921. Miss Taussig leaves Relief Department, (May 1919), 
—Effect on staff—New superintendent takes charge Aug. 
2, 1919—Problem of existing deficits necessitates early study 
—-Rising cost of living results in mounting case count—Re- 
quest for larger appropriation granted—Establishment of 
pensions by pension committee tends to weaken responsi- 
bility of case workers—Differentiation of expenditures— 
Need of administrative control—Former high standards of 
case work encouraged—Early devices for purposive think- 
ing—Effects of more adequate medical service—Value of 
Diagnostic Clinic—Value of Children’s Examining Clinic— 
Methods of control—Cooperation of affiliated agencies— 
Relation between Bureau of Personal Service and Relief 
Department—Division of responsibility detrimental to work 
of both organizations—General survey ineffective—Attempt 
at reorganization—Decision to amalgamate B. P. S. and 
Tei) ae LATHE yok 9A Mea yee re Ate ce eee eye one ee 27 


PART «Il 
SECTION 2 
BUILDING A SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY 


General Problems and Developments after Reorganization — 
January 1, 1921, to January 1, 1924. Guiding aims in re- 
organization—Departments of new organization— Redis- 
tricting for more equitable distribution of work—Problem 
of combining of records—Strong case work departments 
aimed at—Problem of decentralization of authority— 
Need for adequate executive control greater because 
of size of organizations — Methods of control — Fin- 
ancial accounting Financial control—Possible objections 
to financial control—Service control—Inadequacy of “Case” 
as unit—Limitation of ‘Visit’ as wunit—Possibilities of 
“Problem” as unit—Problem of turn-over—Attempts at 
stabilization of professional staff—Attempts at recruiting 
—Professional preparation and more adequate salaries re- 
duce turn-over—Probationary period and service pledge 
further reduce turn-over—Unconscious conflict between 
newer and older workers threatens advantages of better 
training—Need for additional training of older workers— 
Special courses given in building by University of Chicago 


3 


526565 


—Other educational efforts—Development of outline for 
studying personality—Need for cultural background— 
Special courses arranged—Educational and _ professional 
equipment of present staff 


SECTION 3 
DOES ADEQUATE SOCIAL WORK PAY? 
Attempt at a Financial Evaluation of the Work Done. 
Difficulty of evaluation — Lack of adequate criteria 
—-Varying standards of work—‘Rehabilitation” vs. “habili- 
tation’”—Case citations and statistics as means of commu- 
nity education—Limitations and advantages of each— 
Reasons for choice of statistical methods for this section— 


. Comparison of case count and expenditures Jan. 1920, to 


Jan. 1925—Approximately 200% increase in work with 10% 
increase in appropriation—Actual expenditures compared 
with interpolated expenditures—Saving on Regulars during 
period—Factors responsible for saving—Role of larger staff 
—Statement of results in financial terms—Possible alterna- 
tives if saving had not been effected—Value of adequate 
staff to community and organization 


SECTION 4 
PSYCHIATRIC VS. FAMILY CASE WORK 


The Mental Hygiene Department. Function of department 


—Need for medical contact and supervision—Transfer of 
department ‘of Michael Reese Dispensary—Problem of 
jurisdiction between Mental Hygiene Department of 
Michael Reese Dispensary and J. S. S. B.— Difference 
of point of view and approach between general and special 
case workers—Implications—Possible solutions 


eee een we cece enn neces 


SECTION 5 
BRINGING JUSTICE TO THE POOR 


The Legal Aid Department. Description of work before 


amalgamation — Change in personnel after amalgamation 
— Reorganization of work — Review of work indicates 
discontinuation of service to outlying police courts—Other 
changes—Problem of “Justice and the Poor’—Function and 
types of Legal Aid Agencies—Attorneys vs. social workers 
—Relation and contribution of legal aid to socialization of 
courts—J. S. S. B. problem—Value of cooperation of Vol- 
unteer Counsel Committee of Young Men’s Jewish Chari- 
ties—Broadening influence of social service point of view 
on young attorneys—Present work of Legal Aid Department 
—Courts covered—Community Work 


; SECTION 6 
BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AMONG GIRLS 


The Girls’ Department. Reasons for establishment — Attitude 


of Jewish people toward delinquency — Inadequacy of 
early Juvenile Court staff — Recent change for the better 
required modification of department’s work — Present 
arrangement — Advantages — Are special workers for 
girls necessary? — Problem of special worker — Possible 
alternatives—Advantages and disadvantages of each—Pres- 
ent status of department 


41 


60 


77 


80 


SECTION 7 
THE PROBLEM OF CASE WORK WITH BOYS 


The Boys’ Department. Reasons for its establishment — 
Work appears unsatisfactory in review in 1921 Early 
attempts at improvement — Intensive study of work in 
1922—-Results of study—Implications — Possibility © of 
method employed in study—Larger study undertaken to 
test method—Value of study to Boys’ Department—Causes 
for unsatisfactory work: Lack of public recognition of need 
for training for case work—Implications—No provision for 
maintenance of adequately trained personnel—Three aspects 
of problem (1). inadequate training facilities, (2). inadequate 
remuneration, (3). low professional status of social work— 
Conditions must be changed—Injustice and social waste of 
present situation—Particularly difficult for young men— 
Men cannot remain in work though attracted to it............... 96 


SECTION 8 


FAMILY REHABILITATION THROUGH 
FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE 


The Self-Support Department. Discouragement. with work 
in 1919 unjustified — Review of work 1917-1920 shows it 
satisfactorily — Findings — $21,000 saved on 20 families 
in three years — Analysis of “successes” and “failures” — 
Development of department impossible during depression— 
Five year study in 1922 results in additional funds from 
Mr. Max Adler—Two types of self-support establishments 
—Value and place of each—Procedure for establishing— 
Principle of repayments—Its advantages and disadvantages . 
—Self-supporit vs. Industrial Shops—Purchasing established 
business vs. opening new ones—Payment of interest as an 
NANA ey RITE Gay VEC YORE D5 0 TOS ea ann Ue ann ge Ded ee 109 


SECTION 9 


HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS AND FAMILY 
REHABILITATION 


The Household Economics Department. Work started as 
experiment by Mrs. Rosenwald — Adequate supervision 
impossible until 1924 — Value of work in treating 
domestic difficulties—Usual causes of domestic difficulty— 
Types of women handled by visiting housekeeper—Prob- 
lems presented by each type and methods of handling— 
Visiting housekeeping work very costly—Alternatives— 
Value of department for budget making and application— 
Datcer ol: rivid@apoicationeor-any Dude et sc. cc. 126 


Section 10 


BRINGING SOME SUNSHINE INTO LIVES 
OF DARKNESS 


Institutional Visitation. Service discontinued during war — Re- 


established in 1923 — Limitations of service — Humane 
aspects — Need for information on Jewish inmates in State 
SINS LAE CLO TIS oe. se eee ee tee ce Seneca a 134 


SECTION 1] 
CENTRAL PURCHASING AND SUPPLIES 
Department of Purchases and Supplies. Extent of work — Re- 
organization in 1922 — Installation of perpetual inventory 
~~ Drive for cast-off clothing unsuccessful — Amalgamation 
of. store-room with J. H. F. S. — Need for central purchas- 
ine .division of Jewish “Charities....2_.21.2 ee 137 


SECTION 12 
WORK AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CHARITY 
Industrial Workshops. Industrial shops most important 


development exclusive of general reorganization — Factors 
leading to reorganization — General dissatisfaction with 
“relief” as only method for adjustment — Industry’s 


ejection of inefficient results in constantly mounting relief 
expenditures—Study of extent of handicapped . problem— 
Aims and method of study—Summary of findings—Re- 
organization of Shops May, 1923—Jewish Manual Train- 
ing School buildings made available for shops—Results 
thus far—Ahbout 120 handicapped employed—Six depart- 
ments and their problems—Machine sewing—Hand sewing 
—Value and danger of employing dependent mothers— 
Shoe repair—Problem of securing sufficient work—Latest 
attempt at solution—Textile Department—Value for occu- 
pational therapy and establishment of work habits—Broom 
Department—Employs blind men only—Questionable as 
occupation—No other suitable occupation found thus far— 
Difficulty of disposing of output—Woodwork Department 
—Too new for comment—Other types of work—Play room 
for children of working mothers—Its value—Present prob- 
lems of shops: Flexibility—Sales—Work of volunteers— 
Placement of trainees—Employment of tuberculous—Care- 
ful case work before induction—Danger of sheltered in- 
dustry to persons able to work in general industry—Types 
of: cases handled: 25270 Fe os eee ees ee 140 


SecTION 13 
SOME WHO MADE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 


Co-operating Agencies. Great variety of contacts makes 
complete acknowledgment impossible — Most contacts 
with Michael Reese Dispensary and Hospital — Jew- 
ish Home Finding Society—Recent reversal of point of 
view between child care workers and family care workers— 
Jewish Free Employment Bureau—Need for specialization 
on placement of J. S. S. B. clients—Jewish Peoples Insti- 
tute—Availability of their resources boon to good case 
work—Influence of Eisendrath Foundation on case work 
—Brief statement of experiment and effects on work— 
Council of Jewish Women—Jewish Scholarship Committee 
—Sunset Camp—Young Men’s Jewish Charities—Confer- 
ence of Jewish Women’s Clubs’ attempt to organize small 
relief societies—Dangers of their work—Effective work of 
Lawndale Ladies’ Aid—Work of Hungarian Society—Dis- 
continuation of holiday baskets and substitution of more 
constructive method of giving—Temple Sholom Sisterhood 
—Good-Fellow Club—Contacts with Chicago Council of 
Social Agencies—J. S. S. B. represented on various com- 


6 


mittees—Work of Committees—Representation on civic 
and welfare committees of City Club—Cordial relations 
with United Charities—Cooperation with public agencies— 
Cordial relationship with University of Chicago--Helpful- 
ness of Sociology Department—J. S. S. B. Scholarship in 
Graduate School of Social Service Administration—Scholar- 
ship of Chicago Women’s Aid—Generosity of Wieboldt 
Foundation—J. S. S. B. took full share of community re- 
SHOmSi bi lit yaya eee eee ee er eral eS roe Sd ise 172 


Section 14 
WHAT WE NEED FOR CONTINUED PROGRESS 
Future Needs and Recommendations. Value of review largely 
in implications for future development. Present limitations 
OL a}! See ae emi Ced Syren el ee en 183 


1. More Adequate Staff—Implications of large case count 
—Even 40 cases may mean 150 or more problem per- 
sonalities--Danger of swamping case worker with too 
much work—Need for initial and subsequent training— 
Need for provision for time off for further study—Need 
for more adequate salaries—Will attract better personnel 
and reduce turn-over—Need for social insurance for 
social workers; 

Need for separation of district offices from Administra- 

tion Building—Advantages of such separation—More 

real community work possible—Possibilities of social 
control thru community organization—Saving of time 
and energy of workers—Would facilitate greater inter- 
change of information between workers—Would carry 
out Mr. Rosenwald’s vision in establishing Administra- 
tion Building—Would relieve congestion in building— 

Would develop strong sub-executives—Would eliminate 

danger of large number of psychopathic personalities in 

same building; 

3. Special psychiatric service—Advantages and disadvan- 
tages of such service—Can weaken as well as strengthen 
case work—Value of special psychiatric service—Con- 
tribution of psychiatry to behavior problems—Necessary 
qualifications of a psychiatrist who could be of help to 
the staff. 

4. More adequate medical work—Though medical service 
greatly improved, frequent delays still obtain—Danger 
in delays—Value of special clinic for J. S. S. B. clients 
—Lack of contact between case worker and physician 
—Serious handicap to adequate case work—Present 
method and its implications; 

5. More adequate Child care—J. S. S. B. handles more de- 
pendent children than all other Jewish agencies com- 
bined—Present inadequacies—Need for Children’s Ex- 
amining Clinic—Need for observation center for be- 
havior problems before placement—Problem of tem- 
porary placement; 

6. Research and Study—Validity of such department in 
J. S. S. B. may be questioned—Importance of continu- 
ous study and review—Internal vs. external reviews— 
Is necessary objectivity possible in self-criticism ?—Be- 
lieved to be a problem in organization—Value of present 
Biiudiesain. J. Saoa Bb: 


tw 


, 


INDEX TO TABLES, CHARTS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS 


TABLE 


ABE 


Ta ais 


TABUE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


AB La 


TABLE 


TABLE 


TABLE 


oA Bae 


TABLE 


A BLE 


TABLE 


Tables 
Page 


Table of Average Number of Visits per Day made 


by’ Case Workers Dec.)1922, to Jan) 1925s 50 
- Table “of Turn-over of Professional Staff,” Jam 
LOZOR eto bans: 1925. cc hier ha eee eee 
Percentage Distribution of Separations of Mem- 
bers of Professional Staff by Causes, Jan. 1920, 
tow fan O25 ee Re eee 55 
Summary Table of Length of Service in Years 
of present Staff up to and Including Dec. 1924...... 55 
Table Showing Length of Time Certain Problems 
Have Been under Treatment with Adjustment or 
Improvement) in Status of Problem.2..2.........em 101 
Summary of Financial Costs and Savings in Cases 
Established in Business, Sept. 1917, to May 1920.... 111 
Analysis of Results by Success and Failures of 
Cases Established, Sept. 1917, to May 1920............ 111 
Distribution of Number of Cases Established by 
Years, Sept M1i9i721to Way +1920... 2 ee 1 
Frequency Distribution of Establishments by 
Types of Business, Sept. 1917, to May 1920............ 111 
Summary of Financial Costs and Savings on Cases 
Established in Business, Sept. 1917 to May 1922... 115 
. Analysis of Results by Success and Failure of 
Cases Established, Sept. 1917, to May 1922..._.... ese (th 
Financial Analysis of Failures of Cases Estab- 
lished) Sept! 1917# to May 1922.53. ee 115 
Distribution of Number of Cases Established and 
Costsaby Years,’ Septri1917 ito sMay ) 19222. eee 116 
Frequency Distribution of Cases Established by 
Types ot Business. Sept; 1917 to. May 192255 29e 116, 
Distribution of Losses by Year of Closing of Cases 
Established, Sept. 1917) sto cMay /19220 2 ee 137 
Analysis of Failures by Causes of Cases Estab- 
lished); Sept; 1917 tot: May” 19220 2 oe AB 
Relation of Loss to Investment on Cases Estab- 
lished, Sept. 1917,<to “Max a10226 2. 117 
. Table of Interest at Two Per Cent per Annum on 
a $100 Loan to be Repaid in 40 monthly Install- 
MMETtS eee ee ee ee ee 125 
. Table of Types of Handicapped Employed in In- 
dustrial’ Workshopsus.4..uh sk ee 166 


Charts 
Page 
CHAK I—Organization Chart of the Jewish Social Ser- 
VICC eed imo we. ICa 90.4.0. e ae ee eee Zl) 


CHART II—Relative Values of Causes of Separation of 
Jewish Social Service Bureau Workers, Jan. 


DOCG mptcmel ecm een ert apes ee ee es 59 
CHART  III—‘Comparison of Appropriations, Case-Counts 
aldmodaries man. 4920,. to: Jan. 1925.7 oahu. 63 
CHART IV—‘Comparison of Case Counts and Expenditures 
for the Month of March 1920-1921-1922.”’_........ 65 


Crk V—‘Comparison of Actual with Interpolated Ex- 
penditures on Regulars, Dec. 1920, to Apr. 
GEES 2 (Sy Wood ESS Ro ak ava gh tae. dh aa SR 68 


CHART VI—‘Comparison of Total Case Count with Regular 
angel ension, Case Count,Jan. 1918, to. Dec. 


Bez IELCATISt VCs leet ee, connote cae eg foie 70 

CHART Vi i-— Average Rent Per Family. Jan.11921, to Dec. 
RUE GE | ONG el diary (kdl eae a Relea Sg 218 ly ae) A eee 71 

CHART VIII—“Average Rent Per Individual, Jan. 1921, to 
Leper. MICHIE IVs aie GA lB Glee Ty nate A POR 9 72 

CHART IX—Self-Support Activities, Sept. 1917, to May 
| UEIGS 2 2g AE 2 oN tt SPE, Gein Oek P ee ee ee 113 

CHART X—Self-Support Activities, Sept. 1917, to Sept. 
HORE” | Soy Sol LR ARE ae a RE 5 Pt ee RR MS A are 118 

Illustrations 

Page 

Industrial Workshops Buildings of the Jewish Social Service 
gb agers yb) Cony Glace Veg a) A Cie A OS ARN c SU COMI ee SEE a ae 145 
The Machinessewiromonop. (Dec. 1923). ee 147 
The Machine Sewing Shop Enlarged (July 1924) ow. 148 
AG Corner Oletlesiiatrdeoewino SNOpsm 20k wee 150 
Pe GOTT er: Ole th em Dems COAti = ON OD acta ore tence cet cottons scescecaees 153 
sore Lextilestioepa ni niet et wc. een a. ees et ete 155 
ire) Mi fia. a ben Vy Gn nr er eee afc ke 8 CSR alld caednenceaedy 157 
STEM COC W.Ol kimncs ike emmmmmmereeen et Ge re eI ces bedecutectabececs 158 
Play, Rest, and Refreshments—The Play Room.........................-0 160 


INDEX TO APPENDIX 


Appendix Page 
A—List of Problems and Definitions in Use in Districts............ 201 
B—List of Problems and Definitions in Use in Boys’ and Girls’ 
Di@partrrleti te ee aes tented ghee enone cote coal ae 203 
C—List of Problems and Definitions in use in Legal Aid De- 
partnven tee tek ea Rey a eel ee 207 
D—Ready Reference Tables of District and Special Depart- 
mentAProblents.. 22.25). Gees wee ee, al hh 209 


E—Auditor’s Statement of Income and Expenditures—The 
Relief Department of the Jewish Aid Society for the year 


ending Dec 310) 1920 cae ee see aap 210 
F—Auditor’s Balance Sheet—The Self-Support Department for 
the year? ending Wee olen 1 920 esr ee ee ee nce 2nd 211 


G 


Auditor’s Statement of Income and Expenditures—The 
Bureau of Personal Service for the year ending Dec. 31, 1920 212 


H—Auditor’s Statement of Income and Expenditures—The 
Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 
i) URN 18 Wunder tore AAR oi wre Meme eR eat ee ORE 213 
I—Auditor’s Balance Sheet—The Self-Support Department of 
the Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 
STO 2 Tea eg as ey ee a, 214 


J—Auditor’s Statement of Income and Expenditures—The Jew- 
ish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 31, 1922.... 215 


K—Auditor’s Balance Sheet—The Self-Support Department of 
the Jewish Social Service Peay for the year ending Dec. 
Bj 1922 cl NAL, Aste Sere ee ete ene 216 


L—Auditor’s Statement of Income & Expenditures—The Jew- 
ish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 31, 1923.... 217 


M—Auditor’s Balance Sheet—The Self-Support Department of 
the Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 
3191923 is ADRs ee ease tet eee eee eek nt ee, 218 


N—Auditor’s Statement of Resources and Liabilities of the 

Industrial Workshops of the Jewish Social Service Bureau 

for the year: ending Dec 31810236 Ain ee le 219 
O—Auditor’s Profit and Loss Statement of the Industrial Work- 

shops of the Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year end- 

ing Dec. 31; 1923. syeerck aie ake ocx wcities eet ne ee 220 
P—Auditor’s Statement of Income and Expenditures—The Jew- 

ish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 31, 1924... 221 
Q—Auditor’s Balance Sheet—The Self-Support Department of 

the Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 

SAP AO 2S aa ee ale He a, os a Saca ty eeDee ad a 222 
R—Auditor’s Balance Sheet—The Industrial Workshops of the 

Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year ending Dec. 

SU DO ZA Mee i aii aceasta bosb dnseelac sa caluasecutaie ed aspietete vs Cet ee Cen een 223 
S—Auditor’s Profit and Loss Statement of the Industrial Work- 


shops of the Jewish Social Service Bureau for the year end- 
Anis GCs GL TD Ze et i ie ceded aces eee 224 


LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 


December, 1924. 
Dear Mr. Frank: | 


_. I beg leave to submit herewith, to you and the Board 
of Directors of the Jewish Social Service Bureau of Chi- 
cago, a report of the work and progress of the Jewish Aid 
Society and the Jewish Social Service Bureau for the 
period beginning January Ist, 1919 and ending December 
Jist, 1924. , | 

The six years covered by this report can be divided into 
two periods from the standpoint of the developments which 
took place in our organization: January Ist, 1919 to De- 
Cémberesisimioz mane aniary ist, 1921.) to December 
31st, 1924. It was found convenient to organize the ma- 
terial in this way and the report has, therefore, been divided 
into two parts, part one dealing with the first period, and 
part two dealing with the second period. 

In the first part, only the more general problems faced 
by the organization, have been reviewed because in the 
developments which took place after 1921, the innovations | 
introduced into the Relief Department during 1919 and 1920 
had to be reconsidered in the light of the needs of the larger 
organization and some of them had to be discarded. In the 
second part the aim was to present, with such brevity as 
seemed consistent with the subject matter, the major prob- 
lems which the organization faced during the four years un- 
der review. Whenever possible these were presented in their 
wider aspects and their implications were indicated in the 
hope that our experiences, failures, and successes of the 
past, may be an aid in planning the further development 
of the organization. We also hope that a statement of our 
problems and experiences may prove to be of value to such 
other organizations as have similar problems to solve. 


The purpose and point of view which guided me in the 
preparation of this report prevented the inclusion of any 
statement which would give adequate expression to my 


11 


feeling of gratitude and appreciation when I reviewed the 
fine spirit of helpfulness and cooperation which has charac- 
terized your attitude toward me and the many problems 
which we faced together. While every member of our 
Board was as conscientious and helpful as possible and while 
my relationship with each of them was always a source of 
great satisfaction to me, my contact with you was so much 
more frequent and intimate that there was much greater 
opportunity for differences of opinion and possible con- 
flict. It was, therefore, specially gratifying that in the re- 
view of more than four years of very close association with 
you there was not even one instance of anything but the 
most cordial relationship. I believe that it is not too much 
to say that the most important single factor in such prog- 
ress as we made was the harmony which existed between 
board and staff, each working for the good of the com- 
munity. 
Respectfully submitted, 


M. J; KARPES 
Superintendent. 


A. RICHARD FRANK, President, 
The Jewish Social Service Bureau of Chicago, III. 


12 


OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVES 
THE JEWISH AID SOCIETY 


May 1919—May 1920 


Gare CK Res 


ALFRED C. MEYER, President 

OSCAR M. WOLFF, Vice-President 
SAMUEL M. STEIN, Treasurer 

MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL, Secretary 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 


DR. HERMAN ADLER MRS. ISAAC H. MAYER 

MRS. WALTER BACHRACH JULIUS MEYER 

WM. M. CAHN ALFRED C. MEYER 

A. RICHARD FRANK ISAAC MILLS 

GUSTAV HOCHSTATER MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL 

MRS. A. D. KOHN ROBERT SCHAFFNER 

MRS. HENRY KUH S. G. SCHWARZ 

PAUL N. LACKRITZ SAMUEL M. STEIN 

DR. GERSON LEVI DR. SOLOMON STROUSE 

JESSIE LOWENHAUPT VICTOR THORSCH 

WM. MACK OSCAR M. WOLFF 
EXECUTIVES 


Bureau of Personal Service 
Minnie F. Low, Superintendent 


Relief Department 
Maurice J. Karpr, Superintendent 


Employment Bureau 
O. G. FINKELSTEIN, Superintendent 


Industrial Workshops 
O. G. FINKELSTEIN, Superintendent 


¥3 


OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVES 


THE JEWISH AID SOCIETY 
May 1920—Jan. 1921 


OFFICERS 


ALFRED C. MEYER, President 

SAMUEL M. STEIN, Vice-President 
WILLIAM J. MACK, Treasurer 

MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL, Secretary . 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 


MRS. WALTER BACHRACH MRS. ISAAC H. MAYER 
WM. CAHN ALFRED C. MEYER 

A. R. FRANK JULIUS MEYER 

MRS. A. D. KOHN ISAAC MILLS 

‘MRS. HENRY KUH MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL 
PAUL N. LACKRITZ S. G. SCHWARZ 

JACOB LOEB SAMUEL M. STEIN 

JESSE LOWENHAUPT DR. SOLOMON STROUSE 
WM. MACK OSCAR M. WOLFF 


EXECUTIVES 


Bureau of Personal Service 
Minnie F. Low, Superintendent 


Relief Department 
Maurice J. Karpr, Superintendent 


Employment Bureau 
O. G. FINKELSTEIN, Superintendent 


Industrial Workshops 


O. G. FINKELSTEIN, Superintendent 


14 


OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVES 
THE JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU 
OF CHICAGO 


Jan. 1921—Jan. 1922 


OFRFICE RS 


A. RICHARD FRANK, President 

DR. SOLOMON STROUSE, Vice-President 
LOUIS M. KATZ, Treasurer 

MRS. HENRY KUH, Secretary 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 


MORTON D. CAHN JESSE LOWENHAUPT 

WM. CAHN MRS. ISAAC H. MAYER 

A. RICHARD FRANK PAUL N. LACKRITZ 

LOUIS M. KATZ MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL 
MRS. A. D. KOHN DR. SOLOMON STROUSE 
MRS. HENRY KUH JAMES M. HART 


CLARENCE SILBER 


EXECUTIVES 


Jewish Social Service Bureau — 
Maurice J. Karpr, Superintendent 


Industrial Workshops 
O. G. FELToN, Superintendent 


i) 


OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, STANDING 
COMMITTEES AND EXECUTIVES 
THE JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


Jan. 1922—Jan. 1925 


ORR CE Ris 


A. RICHARD FRANK, President 
MRS. A. D. KOHN, Vice-President 
LOUIS M. KATZ, Treasurer 
JAMES M. HART, Secretary 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 


“MORTON D. CAHN MRS. A. D. KOHN 
A. RICHARD FRANK PAUL N. LACKRITZ 
JOHN M. FRANK JESSE LOWENHAUPT 
JAMES M. HART MRS. ISAAC H. MAYER 
LOUIS M. KATZ MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL 
B. F. STEIN 
EXECUTIVES 


Jewish Social Service Bureau 
Maurice J. Karpr, Superintendent 


Industrial Workshops 
O. G. FELTon, Superintendent 


STANDING COMMITTEES 


Committee on Finance and Securities Committee on Self-Support 
L. M. Katz, Chairman L. M. Katz, Crairman 
Mrs. A. D. Koun 2 

P. N. Lacxkritz 


James M. Hart 
JEssE LOWENHAUPT 


Committee on Business Administration JouHN M. Franx 
P. N. Lacxritz, Chairman Mrs. Isaac H. Mayer 
ag cue Hart 
. F. Stein : 3 : 
JOuN Meee Advisory Committee A 
L. M. Karz Mrs. A. D. Koun, Chairman 
: : Mrs. Isaac H. Mayer 
Committee on Industrial Shops Mrs. Ratpu J. RosenTHAL 


M. D. Caun, Chairman 

Mrs. Ratepu J. ROSENTHAL 
Mrs. A. D. Koun , 
L. M. Karz Committee on Legal Aid 


Bee Eh AISTEIN JessE LowEnHaupt, Chairman. 


JeEssE LOWENHAUPT 


16 


OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND 
STANDING COMMITTEES 
THE JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


Jan. 1923—Jan. 1924 


OTP ran PRS 


A. RICHARD FRANK, President 
MRS. A. D. KOHN, Vice-President 
LOUIS M. KATZ, Treasurer 
JAMES M. HART, Secretary 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 


MRS. A. D. KOHN 

PAUL N. LACKRITZ 

MRS. ISAAC H. MAYER 
MRS. RALPH J. ROSENTHAL 
U. S. SCHWARTZ 

B. F. STEIN 


MORTON D. CAHN 
A. RICHARD FRANK 
JOHN M. FRANK 
JAMES M. HART 
LOUIS M. KATZ 


MAURICE J. KARPF, Superintendent 


STANDING COMMITTEES 


Committee on Self-Support 
P. N. Lacxritz, Chairman 


Committee on Finance and Securities 
L. M. Katz, Chairman 


Mrs. A. D. Koun 
James M. Hart 


Committee on Business Administration 
Joun Frank, Chairman 
P. N. Lacxkritz 
B. F. STEN 
James M. Hart 


Committee on Industrial Shops 
B. F. Stein, Chairman 
M. D. Caun 
Mrs. A. D. Koun 
Mrs. Ratpu J. RosentTHAL 
Mrs. Isaac H. Maver 


17 


JoHn M. FRANK 
L. M. Katz 
U. S. ScHWARTZ 


Advisory Committee 
Mrs. A. D. Koun, Chairman 
Mrs. Isaac H. Mayer 
L. M. Katz 


Committee on Legal Aid 
U. S. ScHwartz, Chairman 


Case Review Committee 
Mrs. Isaac H. Maver, Chairman 
Mrs. Ratpu J. ROSENTHAL 
Mrs. A. D. Koun 


OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND 
STANDING COMMITTEES 
THE JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


Jan 1924—Jan. 1925 


OFFICERS 


A. RICHARD FRANK, President 
MRS. A. D. KOHN, Vice-President 
JAMES M. HART, Secretary 


LOUES MS KATZ, 


Treasurer 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 


MORTON D. CAHN 
HERBERT M. FRIEDLICH 
A. RICHARD FRANK 
JOHN M. FRANK 

JAMES M. HART 


LOUIS M. KATZ 

MRS. A. D. KOHN 
PAUL N. LACKRITZ 
MRS. ISAAC H. MAYER 
ROBERT EISENDRATH 


B. F. STEIN 


MAURICE J. KARPF, Superintendent 


STANDING COMMITTEES 


Committee on Finance and Securities 
L. M. Katz, Chairman 
Mrs. A. D. Koun 
James M. Hart 


Committee on Business Administration 


Joun M. Frank, Chairman 
P. N. Lackritz 

B. F. STE1n 

James M. Hart 


Committee on Industrial Shops 


B. F. Stern, Chairman 
M. D. Caun 

Mrs. A. D. KouHn 
Rosert EISsENDRATH 
Mrs. Isaac H. Maver 


18 


Committee on Self-Support 


P. N. Lacxritz, Chairman 
JoHN M. Frank 
James M. Hart 
U. S. ScHwartz 


Advisory Committee 


Mrs. A. D. Koun, Chairman 
Mrs. Isaac H. Mayer 
L. M. Katz 


Committee on Legal Aid 


Hersert M. FRIEDLIcH, Chairman 


ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF 
THE JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


December, 1924. 


MAURICE J. KARPF, Superintendent 
IRIS L. WOOD, Case Reviewer* 
VIRGINIA C. FRANK, Case Consultant 


FAMILY CASE WORK DEPARTMENTS 


District 1—Upper Lawndale 


Betty J. Hoff, Supervisor 
Rose Goldsmith, Visitor 
Helen Krane, Visitor 
Mollle Krueger, Visitor 
Betty Krause, Visitor 
Sophie Ginsburg, Visitor 
Tillie Diskin, Stenographer 


District 2—Upper West Side 


Marion Fine, Supervisor 
Dinah Connel, Visitor 
Julie Dloogatch, Visitor 
Rosalyn Frank, Visitor 
Juliet Pollak, Visitor 
Frieda Romalis, Visitor 
Helen Stein, Stenographer 


District 3—Middle West Side 


Luba Lazareff, Supervisor 
Lilion Kahn, Visitor 

Anne Katz, Visitor 

Mary Lawrence, Visitor 
Florence Rivkin, Visitor 
Sophia Schupack, Visitor 
Mary Sokolofski, Visitor 

Bess Hershkovitz, Stenographer 


District 4 — Lower: West and 


Northwest Side 


Leah London, Supervisor 

Jennie Greenspan, Visitor 

Jessie Koenigsberg, Visitor 
Katherine Kulka, Visitor 

Jennie Rovner, Visitor = 
Sonya Forthal Spiesman, Visitor 
Elizabeth Waldo, Visitor 

Lillian Brody, Stenographer 


District 5—Upper Northwest Side 


Irene Schwarzman, Supervisor 
Carrie Rubin, Senior Visitor 
Cecile Epstein, Visitor 

Florence Miller, Visitor 

Sarah Perlstein, Visitor 

Eve Rosenbloom, Visitor 
Katherine Spiegel, Visttor 

Rita Goldberg, General Interviewer 
Leah Purvin, Stenographer 


SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS 


Legal Aid Department 
Sarah B. Schaar, Supervisor 
Rosalie Sheinfeld, Court Worker 
Sadie Bernstein, Court Worker 
Adele Rabino, Court Worker 
Clara Chernoff, Stenographer 


* On leave for study. 


Girls’ Department 


Pauline Schweizer, Acting Supervisor 
Esther Beckenstein, Visitor 

Ella Benyas, Visitor 

Celia Wolfson, Visitor 

Rose Alion, Stenographer 


SPECIAL* DEPARTMENTS (Cont.) 


Boys Department 


Otto Wander, Supervisor 
Joseph Edelman, Visitor 
Albert Harris, Visitor 
Maurice Segall, Visitor 
Maurice Simon, Visitor 


Joseph Doblin, Worker with 
Transients 


Household Economics Department 


Julia Dushkin, Supervisor 
Victoria Abramson, Assistant . 
Ethel Jacobs, Assistant 

Esther Maremont, Assistant 
Eva’ M. Weber, Nurse 


[nstitutional Visitation Department 


Jules N. Karlin. Specal Worker with a Md : ; 
Minnie J. Berlin, Worker in Charge 


Behavior Problems 
Sally Kaplan, Stenographer ee 
Statistical Department 

Isadore Solomon, Statistician 

Julius Rosenbloom, Assistant 


Self-Support Department 
Bertha Callner, Worker tn Charge 


INDUSTRIAL WORKSHOPS 
L. DAY PERRY, Manager 


_ Woodwork Department 


Thomas Sakowitz, Foreman 


Machine Sewing Department 
Minnie Helfand, Supervisor 
Minnie Cohen, Assistant 


Broom Shop 


Louis Fletcher, Foreman 


Hand Sewing Department 
Hazel Kolman, Supervisor 
Ruth Wolbach, Assistant 

Clerical Department 
Helen Robin, Chief Clerk 
Sara Marks, Bookkeeper 
Sara Secter, Stenographer 
Freda Frost, File Clerk 


Textile Department 
Lena Lewis, Supervisor 


Shoe Repair Department 


Sam Postelnik, Foreman 


CLERICAL STAFF 


Bookkeeping Department 


Fannie Goldberg, Bookkeeper and 
Cashier 


Edna Levine, Assistant 


Department of Purchases and 


Supplies 


Esther F. Margolis, Purchasing Agent 


Clara Silverman, In Charge of 
Stock Room 


Edith Jacobson, Clerk 


Record Room 


Sylvia Meyer, Record Clerk 
Hannah Sagman, File Clerk 
Lillan Jacobson, File Clerk 


Stenographers 


Anita Menkes, Secretary to 
Superintendent 


Charlotte Rothbaum, Assistant 
Lillian Barrish Emergency 
Sylva Millman Stenographers 


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FOREWORD 


No report of the work of the Jewish Aid Society has 
been issued since the last report of the Associated Jewish 
Charities of Chicago for the period of May, 1917 to April 
30, 1918. Nor has any comprehensive public statement 
been made of the work of any of the departments of the 
Jewish Aid Society which at that time consisted of the Re- 
lief Department, the Bureau of Personal Service, the B’nai 
Brith Free Employment Bureau and the Jewish Industrial 
Workshops. There are a number of reasons why no report 
was made, and it may be proper to enumerate here at;least 
the most important ones. They are: . 

First, during the war and immediately following, the 
cost of printing was so high that any statement which would 
have done justice to the situation would have required 
a larger expenditure of money than the organization 
could afford at that time. Various attempts were made 
by the Associated Jewish Charities to determine the ex- 
tent to which the contributing public wanted to receive 
annual reports with the result that in the judgment 
of the responsible authorities no sizeable expenditure 
seemed justified in the preparation and printing of annual 
reports. From time to time brief statements were made of 
the work of the various agencies which kept the public in- 
formed of the major develonments 

Secondly, during 1918 and 1919 a comprehensive survey 
of the various constituent organizations of the Associated 
Jewish Charities was undertaken by the Bureau of Jewish 
Social Research of New York City, which was completed 
late in 1919. This survey was exhaustive and a summary 
of the major findings and recommendations was prepared 
by Mr. L. M. Cahn who became Executive Director of the 
Associated Jewish Charities early in 1920, so that that part 
of the contributing public which was really interested and 
desired to keep itself informed could do so through this 
means. 

Thirdly, beginning with the spring of 1919 a number of 
changes took place in the various departments of the Jew- 


22 


ish Aid Society so that no statement which could have been 
prepared at any one time would have presented the situation 
from the standpoint of the aims and results of the various 
reorganizations. No statement before this could have been 
-adequate because the reorganization was not completed 
until the fall of1923; 

Fourthly, the writer has long felt that the time and 
energy spent by executives and staffs of social agencies on 
annual reports are not justified by the results of their labors. 
This feeling became a conviction after discussing the matter 
with various executives. 

The matter of annual reports was discussed at several. 
meetings of the board of directors of the Jewish Social 
Service Bureau, and the board members shared the writer’s 
view with one outstanding exception. It should be stated 
that this view is not held because of a disregard of the 
obligations which a social agency owes its contributing pub- 
lic, but is due rather to a frank and honest consideration of 
the facts of the situation. These facts as the writer sees 
them, are as follows: 

(a) As already indicated, only a very small portion of 
the contributing public is sufficiently interested in the 
work of the social agencies or has the time and patience to 
labor through the average annual report, which, in order to 
be worthwhile at all, must be rather technical, detailed, and 
therefore “too dry” for the average layman. It is no longer 
argued that annual reports are a means of educating the 
public. Those interested in the problem of community 
education have come to recognize that a brief periodical 
statement in non-technical terms—‘“a human interest” state- 
ment, something which will grip the reader and hold his 
attention, or something which he can “finger through” and 
retain a few outstanding and essential facts before throw- 
ing the publication into the wastebasket, is much superior 
to the annual report as a means for community education. 

(b) As far as professional workers are concerned, an- 
nual reports will have to be considerably different from 
what they now are if they are to serve as a means for stim- 
ulating professional interest and advancement. With the 
lack of standardization of professional terminology and 
criteria, present day annual reports do not even provide 
adequate data for comparison and evaluation of the work 
of social agencies. With the many technical journals deal- 


23 


ing with social work and the allied fields in the social 
sciences, one would hardly think of turning to annual re- 
ports for inspiration and information on the latest dis- 
coveries and advances made in the field of work in which one 
happens to be interested. He who has anything that is 
worth while telling will usually select a medium which is 
likely to reach a wider reading public than the annual re- 
port reaches. | 

There are, however, at least two very valid reasons for 
reports by social agencies which must be considered. First 
and foremost is the need for periodic stock taking. It is 
essential that each agency take stock of its own work from 
time to time in the form of a social audit so that it may view 
its progress from the standpoint of its aims, as well as to 
review its methods for handling the problems with which 
it deals. However, anyone at all familiar with social work 
knows that it is futile to report on progress each year. 
Social work in common with the whole social process, re- 
quires years for any such real progress as would be worth 
recording. Accordingly, only periodic reports of aims and 
progress, in definite and factual terms, would seem to be 
justified. 

Secondly, the schools of social work need, for purposes 
of instruction, such statements of needs, aims, methods, 
and procedure as will give the students insight into the 
problems of social agencies. This need is real and must 
be met together with other needs for teaching material if 
social work is to accumulate a body of transmittable facts 
such as other professions have and are developing. How- 
ever, it would seem that this need would be more satis- 
factorily served if students and teachers kept in closer touch 
with the social agencies and saw the work at first hand. 
Reports are only too frequently written for purposes of 
justifying support received and for preparing the ground 
for the solicitation of additional funds. While this may 
be altogether necessary and perhaps even justifiable, the 
value of material prepared with such objects in view; for 
students who should have presented to them the plain, un- 
varnished truth, may well be questioned. To be sure stu- 
dents need and should have statements of trials, failures, 
and successes. But these can be much more adequately 
presented in periodic than in annual reports, for in the 
former only that which has more or less permanent value 


24 


will be included and the reporter may in addition have a 
perspective for the evaluation of his material not possible 
in yearly statements. 

It is the above considerations which prompted the pres- 
ent review just as they prevented the issuance of annual 
reports. 

In the selection and preparation of the material con- 
tained in this review, the aim was to include only such 
items as would be an index of the aims and methods of the 
organization and would give a more or less adequate pic- 
ture of the problems which the organization faced from time 
- to time, as well as how it endeavored to deal with them and 
the success or failure which attended its efforts. 

It should be pointed out, however, that the writer is by’ 
no means certain that the aims and methods characterizing 
the work of the organization during the period under review 
were either adequate or the best possible under the circum- 
stances. We can only say that we sought as much light 
and help on the problems which we had to deal with, as 
were obtainable. Not only did the staff participate in the 
thinking and planning, insofar as this was possible under 
the circumstances, but we had recourse to such facilities in 
the community as could contribute toward the solution of 
the many problems which we faced. It must be admitted, 
however, that social work and its administration are still 
largely in the trial and error stage and success frequently 
follows only after numerous failures. This was as true 
with us as it is true of other social agencies. 

The writer hopes that he will be pardoned for a tew 
personal remarks in acknowledgment of the unusual sup- 
port and cooperation which he received from the presidents, 
the board of directors, the staff, the cooperating agencies 
and the executive director of the Jewish Charities. Mr. 
Meyer, president of the Jewish Aid Society up to Jan. 1921, 
was very helpful in his encouragement and support during 
the early and trying period. Yo Mr. Frank, president of 
the Jewish Social Service Bureau since January 1921, the 
writer is under great debt for his unfailing support in 
the many trying situations which had to be faced. Huis 
courage, devotion and fine insight served to stimulate 
all of us and greatly aided in those accomplishments 
which may have taken place. The Board, too, was most 
helpful, and it is with keen appreciation that we look back 


25 


over the years of our personal and professional association 
with the members of our board. 

To the staff, especially the department heads, the writer 
is under especial obligation. Their readiness to enter into 
the many experiments frequently necessary before satis- 
factory procedure could be arrived at, was the best proof 
of their eagerness for professional advancement and 
progress. 

Finally, we wish to express our appreciation of the help 
given us by the various cooperating agencies especially the 
Jewish Charities through its Executive Director, Mr. Louis 
M. Cahn. He was ever ready to listen to and support such 
projects as seemed promising. His help was invaluable. 


26 


PART I 
SECTION 1. 


EARLY PROBLEMS 
Before the Amalgamation 


January 1st, 1919 to January Ist, 1921 


In May of 1919 Miss Frances Taussig, Superintendent 
of the Relief Department of the Jewish Aid Society, re- 
signed to become Assistant Director of the United Hebrew 
Charities of New York City, and later Executive Director 
of the same organization. Miss Taussig was unquestion- 
ably the first superintendent of the Relief Department to 
definitely set out for raising the standards of case work in 
the organization. Because of her own professional attitude 
toward the work she was able to develop an organization 
which aimed at constant self-improvement so that it was 
among the foremost in the country. Her leaving was a 
severe blow to the Relief Department because of her long 
service and association with the workers, and also because 
of a very unique sense of loyalty which they developed to- 
ward their chief. It was this feeling of loyalty which kept 
the organization intact during the months which elapsed 
between her leaving and the selection of a successor. 

“When the writer assumed charge of the organization on 
August 2, 1919, he found that although the organization was 
small*, certain attitudes on the part of the workers had 
developed during the period of interregnum which were not 
conducive to good work, although, as previously indicated, 
every member of the staff made a conscientious effort to do 
the best in her. 

One of the problems which had to be faced almost im- 
mediately, was an ever increasing deficit because of an 
inadequate appropriation from the then Associated Chari- 
ties. When approached for an increased appropriation the 
question was asked of the President, Mr. Alfred C. Meyer, 


*The professional staff consisted of 8 case workers, 4 supervisors, 
one self-support worker, one visiting housekeeper, and the assistant 
superintendent. 


2/7 


and the new superintendent as to why more money was 
needed, since the organization was handling fewer cases 
than at any time since 1914. The only way to answer this 
question was to study the work of the organization and we 
were thus forced to make a study of the work of the Relief 
Department which later proved of inestimable value in the 
development of the organization. 

In seeking an answer to this question, the only infor- 
mation available was with regard to case count and pre- 
vious expenditures of the organization. There was no very 
great differentiation in the types of cases handled, nor was 
there sufficiently detailed information about the expendi- 
tures to supply material for what was thought necessary 
for a comparative study of the work. However, with such 
material as was available the study was made, and the 
results were presented to the Associated Jewish Charities 
with certain recommendations. It was found that in April 
of 1919 the Relief Department had accepted a definite 
family budget which had been worked out by a committee 
of the Chicago Council of Social Agencies. This budget, 
though it was only applied to the tubercular families, never- 
theless considerably increased the relief expenditures of 
the organization. In view of the fact that this budget was 
a minimum for dependent families, and also in view of the 
fact that living costs were increasing very rapidly at this 
time, the recommendation was made to the Board of Direct- 
ors of the Jewish Aid Society and the Associated Jewish 
Charities, that the Nesbitt Budget be applied to all de- 
pendent families aided by the Relief Department. 

It was also found that the case count was mounting be- 
cause of the inability of families to maintain themselves 
because of the advance in the cost of living, and that the in- 
dividual worker in the Relief Department was carrying so 
large a case count as to preclude the possibility of good case 
work. Accordingly, the recommendation was made that 
after certain re-organizations within the staff were effected, 
it be increased so as to give each case worker a case count 
of about 50 families. This was deemed essential in order 
to make possible such concentration on the problems which 
the organization was facing with a large number of its de- 
pendent families, as was necéssary for the effective handling 
of those problems. 

A third recommendation was that the Associated Jew- 


28 


ish Charities appropriate sufficient funds to the Relief De- 
partment to meet the existing deficit in order to release the 
energies of the organization so that they could be diverted 
to the tasks confronting it instead of being used up in worry- 
ing about the constantly mounting overdraft. 

To the credit of the Jewish community be it said that 
these recommendations were accepted and that the Asso- 
ciated Jewish Charities increased the appropriation to the 
Relief Department to meet the needs which were pointed 
out. 

As a result of the study which was made, certain weak- 
nesses in the organization came to light. The first of these 
was the failure to place complete and final responsibility 
for the work on the staff where it belongs. A special com- 
mittee of the Board, known as the Pension Committee, met 
in the office of the superintendent at regular intervals for 
the purpose of establishing permanent pensions for families. 
The visitor of a’given family and her supervisor presented 
the family situations to this committee when, in the judg- 
ment of the workers, a pension should be established, and 
if the committee concurred with the recomemndation such 
pension was established, the amount specified, and the nature 
of the remittances determined upon. Thereafter the amounts 
were sent to the family automatically from the cashier’s 
office. It was understood, of course, that case work was to 
continue and the visitors were to watch the situation so 
that the pension might be discontinued when justified. 
While this plan had the advantage of a committee of dis- 
interested persons sitting in judgment on the case work and 
thus bringing the outsider’s point of view to bear on the 
situation, which is frequently helpful in case work, it had 
the disadvantage of relieving the worker from bearing the 
full responsibility for the results of her work. This plan was 
also weak because it failed to recognize that with the large 
case count which each worker was carrying, the tendency 
would be to give the most attention to those situations 
which were pressing and that since a case worker could not 
do intensive case work on all of her cases, she naturally re- 
laxed on the pension families, particularly since there was 
no distress in those families because of the established 
pension. ‘There was nothing to bring the situation to the 
attention of the worker, although periodic reviews by the 
Pension Committee were no doubt contemplated in the 


29 


- original plan, and situations were thus allowed to go on for 
long periods of time without receiving the thought and work 
which every family receiving financial assistance requires. 

What was perhaps the most dangerous element in this 
procedure was the effect which this arrangement had upon 
the family. Once a pension was established, the family en- 
joyed a comparative amount of ease and security and there- 
fore, could, no doubt, relax in its efforts for financial in- 
dependence. 

Another apparent eee was the fact that while the 
organization knew the amount expended each month, and 
the nature of the expenditures, there was no information 
on the amounts expended by each sub-division of the Re- 
lief Department. There were at this time four districts, each 
consisting of a supervisor, two case workers, and a stenog- 
rapher, with a case count of between 125 and 150 cases. 
No information was available as to the amount of money 
each district was spending, nor was any comparison be- 
tween the districts possible on the basis of such expendi- 
tures. This arrangement failed to recognize a very impor- 
tant psychological element is family case work, particularly 
where financial assistance is involved. 

The case worker coming in contact with her families 
is under constant pressure from these families for assist- 
ance. It is well known among. case workers handling re- 
lief problems, that regardless of what the allowance may 
be, even though the allowance be more than the normal in- 
come in the family before dependency, there is a constant 
demand on the part of most families for additional assist- 
ance. This is due first to the rise in the standard of living 
which may be desirable and which should be encouraged, 
and secondly to the ease with which money easily obtained 
is spent. The old adage of “Easy come—easy go” applies 
with full force. The case worker having certain objectives 
for the family in mind, and also seeing certain needs, (be- 
cause it must be admitted that even under the best con- 
ditions families receiving financial assistance from charitable 
agencies do not live in luxury, nor do they have clothing, 
furniture and other household effects in such plentiful sup- 
ply as not to be able to use more) will, all things being 
equal, frequently give way to this pressure and grant the 
requests made upon her. This may be done because it is 
the line of least resistance, and also because the worker 


30% 


may use this as an unconscious bribe to the family in order 
to establish easy contacts, or what is perhaps more justi- 
flable, to enable her to accomplish what she is aiming at 
in the particular family. Before long the worker usually 
finds herself in the vicious circle of the demands on her 
increasing with her willingness to accede to them. She may 
find also that instead of her having established the proper 
kind of contact for effective control and guidance, her con- 
tact depends entirely upon the fact that she is looked upon 
as a “Lady Bountiful,” and that she will be praised as long 
as she gives, and cursed when she refuses to give. The ef- 
fect which this type of work has upon the family is, of 
course, obvious. ‘In our judgment, this method of work is 
the royal road to pauperization. 

It was intended, of course, that the supervisor check such 
looseness, but the supervisor was subject to the same forces 
and influences as was the worker. The pressure which the 
family exerted upon the visitor was exercised, perhaps to a 
lesser degree, by the visitor upon the supervisor. Since 
there were no counter-checks on supervisor or visitor it 
was easier to give than not to. The only real counter- 
balance was the degree of conscientiousness on the part of 
the individual worker which, although of the utmost im- 
portance, and although it must be depended upon ultimately 
in every system, nevertheless often operates most effect- 
ively only by being stimulated from external sources. ” 

The effects of this system were observable in many di- 
rections. The attitude of the clients toward the organiza- 
tion and its workers: the not infrequent physical violence 
to which clients resorted in order to obtain their desired 
ends, the feeling of insecurity and fear on the part of work- 
ers, and the frequent disturbances in the building by espe- 
cially demanding clients. All of this, with the large amount 
of work under which each worker labored, produced a situa- 
tion which at best was unwholesome. 

Once the situation was understood and its elements 
analyzed, the remedies seemed obvious. The first and fore- 
most thing to do was, of course, to continue the policies of 
the former superintendent toward high standards of work. 
It was consciously determined to stress this element insofar 
as it seemed best to do so. Definite and conscious attempts 
were made to bring to the staff and to encourage them to 
maintain, the highest possible ideals of case work, for it was 


31 


realized that this must be the main spring and the basis 
for all improvements. 

One of the specific methods for bringing this about 
which were tried was an attempt to encourage the workers 
to analyze each of their family situations in terms of the 
factors which produced those situations. An “Analysis 
Sheet” was devised which provided space for the analysis 
of each family situation in terms of the health factors, the 
economic factors, and the social factors which were operat- 
ing in the family. Each individual member of the family 
and the family as a whole, were to be considered in this 
analysis. The sheet also provided for a plan for the im- 
provement of the condition in light of the analysis which 
was made. The aim here was, of course, to provide facili- 
ties for and make necessary planful analysis, and purpo- 
sive thinking. What was even more important was the 
attempt to encourage the greatest amount of care and accu- 
racy of thought in their case work by urging the workers 
to record their analysis and plans on the sheets the aim 
being that there be an analysis sheet on each of the families 
handled by the organization. The analysis was to be made 
by the visitor and considered by the supervisor. Staff con- 
ferences were held at which cases were presented and the 
analysis and plans discussed and criticized. 

In order to emphasize the necessity of thinking in terms 
of the individuals of the family as well as of the family as 
a whole, several special summary sheets were devised for 
the purpose of recording summaries with regard to the 
health, vocational and educational status ad problems 
which the family presented. It was hoped that these more 
or less mechanical devices would foster the habit of careful 
thought, and the brief experience with them indicated, that 
that would indeed have been the result. Unfortunately, it 
was not possible to continue with these devices because 
even 50 cases per visitor proved to be too heavy a load, and 
also because the work in the organization became heavier 
as the year rolled. on. These methods were therefore 
abandoned for the time being. 

Another attempt at raising the standards of work in 
the organization was the contact which was established 
with the Department of Sociology of the University of 
Chicago. Through special arrangements with the Uni- 
versity College, Professor Burgess of the Department of 


32 


Sociology gave a course specially designed for the work- 
ers in our building. About 40 persons took this course 
and a good many declared that it was very helpful to them 
in their thinking. A special committee, consisting of Pro- 
fessor Park, Professor Burgess, and Mr. Young, all of the 
Department of Sociology, was organized to consider, with 
staff members and other interested persons, some of the 
more difficult problems which we were handling. The 
aim in this committee was to make available to the workers 
such principles as the social sciences have developed for 
the interpretation and control of human behavior, and to 
bring to the University people the opportunity for first- 
hand contact with some of the more difficult situations 
which social agencies are handling. These meetings were 
held twice a month for a considerable length of time, and 
were very helpful to both groups. 

Still another factor which helped to improve the type 
of work done by the organization was the Ejisendrath 
Foundation. This effort at intensive case work helped to 
bring the need for careful planning in case work situations 
to the attention of the staff, and was very effective in 
bringing into the consciousness of the workers the dangers 
and possibilities of adequate relief. More will be said about 
this effort later on.* 

A very important factor in the improvement of our 
work was the development of a better cooperative relation- 
ship between our organization and the Michael Reese Dis- 
pensary which began with Mr. Ransom’s assuming charge 
of that organization the latter part of 1919. Not only was 
the quality of work done generally in the dispensary greatly 
improved, but the special needs of our organization were 
taken into consideration and special facilities were created 
for meeting them. The most important of these facilities 
was undoubtedly the Diagnostic Clinic established in 1920. 
The purpose of this clinic was to examine clients of the 
Relief Department thoroughly in order to discover such 
defects as they may have. The importance of this clinic 
to the organization can hardly be overestimated. Before 
the creation of this special facility it was possible for one 
of our clients to obtain conflicting diagnoses and recom- 
mendations from the dispensary. This had the effect of 


*See page 175 ff. 
33 


undermining the confidence of the patients and the Relief 
Department workers in the thoroughness and efficiency as 
well as reliability of the dispensary. With this attitude on 
the part of our clients and workers it was impossible for us 
to be sufficiently certain of our ground to take a definite 
stand with people even though we and the dispensary sus- 
pected malingering. The diagnostic clinic changed all 
this. The thorough consideration which a patient received 
from the various specialists serving on the clinic, the op- 
portunities for careful observation when necessary which 
the clinic developed, the preparation of a most careful 
social history of the patient which our workers prepared for 
the information of the clinic physicians, the inclusion in 
the clinic of a neurologist of excellent standing which made 
possible taking into consideration not only the physical but 
the mental factors as well, and finally, the clinic sessions, 
in which the physicians and social workers participated in 
the study and analysis of the problem, all made possible a 
pooling of resources for treating the Relief Department 
problem-cases such as was never before possible and such 
as few agencies of our kind enjoy. Not only did it mean 
that our chronic problem-cases received the best possible 
medical attention, but they received also the best possible 
case work because in order to present a problem to the 
clinic, the social worker was forced to a most careful study 
of the particular situation in order to be prepared to dis- 
cuss the various angles of the case which were invariably 
brought out at the clinic session. These sessions in reality 
were case conferences of a very high order and were a spur , 
to the individual worker and supervisor to do the best that 
was in them. The availability of this clinic also meant that 
the emphasis was shifted, as it should be, from bringing 
the best resources of the organization to bear on a particular 
situation at a time when it was still controllable instead of 
waiting until the situation becomes chronic, when attitudes 
are developed on the part of the client which make success- 
ful case work almost impossible. 

The tangible result of this clinic and the improved work 
which it brought in its wake was that a great many of the 
most difficult problems which the Relief Department had 
handled for many years and which were the most costly 
from the standpoint of time, energy, and money expended, 
were solved with the aid of this clinic, and that the new 


34 


problems which came to the organization were handled more 
skillfully and adequately so that they were not allowed to 
become chronic. The moneys thus saved were used for 
the development of a better staff, more visitors were ob- 
tained of better education and ability. This meant a re- 
duction of the number of cases per person with the result 
that better work was being done on the individual cases 
which meant in turn a greater financial saving to the or- 
ganization. The full significance of this will be apparent 
when the work during the period of industrial depression 
will be discussed.* 

Another clinic which has been of great help to us is the 
Children’s Examining Clinic, established in the Dispensary. 
This clinic meant a shifting of emphasis in our work from 
the adult to the child. It was not infrequently that in our 
efforts to solve the economic problems in a given family 
we lost sight of the future by dealing only with the present 
problems presented by the adults, so that the children 
were overlooked. The Children’s Examining Clinic called 
to our attention physical weaknesses in the children of our 
families, forcing thereby an effort to correct these deficien- 
cies. This naturally meant a greater expense to us, but 
it was a paying investment for the future, because a great 
many of the situations which we are called upon to deal 
with are hopeless and the children are the only hopeful 
factor there. These children start life with tremendous 
social, physical and economic handicaps, and unless they 
be given ample opportunity to overcome these handicaps, 
we shall have not only an indigent population, which we are 
dealing with today, but the future generation will be de- 
pendent as well. This must not be, and it is only through 
intensive effort with the children that the future can be 
safe-guarded. 

Unfortunately this clinic was discontinued by the 
Michael Reese Dispensary as far as the J. S. S. B. is con- 
cerned because of lack of funds. Our efforts to help the 
dispensary to secure more funds so that the service of this 
clinic could again be made available to us were thus far 
unsuccessful because the Jewish Charities could not afford 
the expenditure. In our humble judgment a very grave 


-*See Section 3. 


35. 


and serious error is being committed in thus discontinuing 
this very important service. 

Other clinics were established in the dispensary which 
were of great help to us in our work. But what was most 
important was the general raising of standards of work done 
by the dispensary. While there are still a good many prob- 
lems to be solved in the relationship between the dispensary 
as our “family physician” and ourselves, their service to us 
has been so immeasurably improved as compared with sev- 
eral years ago, that we have every reason to hope for even 
greater improvement in the future. 

Perhaps the most far-reaching and fundamental change 
during this period was the development of what we call, 
for the want of a better name, our Unit Plan. As already 
indicated, the study which we made of the work for the 
years 1915-1919 in order to answer the questions which the 
Associated Jewish Charities asked in response to our re- 
quest for a larger appropriation, namely, why it was that 
our expenditures were mounting in the face of a declining 
case count, called to our attention some weaknesses in the 
organization with special references to our method of con- 
trolling our financial expenditures. Records of expendi- 
tures for the organization were kept in terms of cases. The 
inadequacy of the unit “case” is just as definite whether it 
is used to measure financial or social efforts. A “case” 
was a case whether it required one dollar or one hundred 
dollars, whether help was granted for a day, month or a 
year, just as there was no differentiation between cases 
which had one or five individual problems which required 
handling. With as inadequate a unit as the case was, no 
comparison was possible between the expenditures of work- 
ers or districts. Comparisons are indispensable for control 
and it was quite evident that before such comparisons could 
be made a more simple unit than the “case” would have to 
be evolved. To this problem we applied ourselves almost 
as soon as it was recognized, and it was not until Septem- 
ber 1920, that a seemingly satisfactory solution was found. 
This solution consists of a scheme whereby each family re- 
quiring financial assistance is considered in relation to the 
kind and number of individuals which constitute the family. 
Twelve unites were devised, on the basis of cost, into which 
each family can be subdivided. This made possible a 
degree of control, especially in the more permanent cases, 


36 


which was never before possible. It made possible not only 
an accurate budgeting of each department, but of each 
worker. Our bookkeeping system was changed so that 
records of financial expenditures are kept by districts in- 
stead of for the organization as a whole, so that actual ex- 
penditures of departments can be checked against their 
estimates. Yearly and monthly comparisons can be made 
in terms of the organization, its various departments and the 
work done. But what was perhaps the most important re- 
sult was the fact that it made the organization aware of 
the relation of financial expenditures to case work, to an 
extent which can hardly be imagined. The details of this 
plan will be considered when we come to consider the de- 
velopments after 1921, since it was developed and applied 
during that period. 

A less direct factor in the improvement of the work dur- 
ing this period was the better cooperation which we were 
able to secure from the other affiliated agencies. The spirit 
of co-working between the affiliated bodies of the Associ- 
ated Jewish Charities was better than ever before. It is 
difficult to say whether this was due to the fact that the 
Associated Jewish Charities secured Mr. L. M. Cahn, a 
man who had the confidence of the community and the 
workers, as Executive Director, or whether the compara- 
tively lighter years (1918-1919) enabled most of the agencies 
to take a calmer view of their situation. It was probably 
a combination of both of these that brought a general re- 
alization to all the agencies that each was but a part of a 
big community scheme, and therefore, must consider itself 
and its work only in relation to its function in the com- 
munity. The atmosphere was clarified. ‘There came into 
being a spirit of friendliness and eagerness to serve, which 
made working with the other agencies a pleasure. 

In spite of the improvements indicated above there was 
a’ fundamental weakness in the organization which threat- 
ened to nullify the best efforts of the executive and the 
staff. This weakness consisted in the duplication of case 
work between the Relief Department and the Bureau of 
Personal Service. The division of work between these two 
organizations was illogical despite the fact that they were 
parts of the same organization—the Jewish Aid Society. 
Although each laid emphasis on a different phase of case 
work, both organizations were really concerned with 


7 


She 


the problem of family case work. The only real dis- 
tinction between them was the element of financial assist- 
ance which determined whether a case should be handled by 
one or the other organization. But even this line of de- 
marcation was ineffectual because frequently situations re- 
quiring no financial assistance when first brought to the at- 
tention of the agency and therefore referred to the Bureau 
of Personal Service, would, in the course of the development, 
need financial assistance and would then be transferred to 
the Relief Department. Such transfer was naturally re- 
sented by the workers of the Bureau of Personal Service 
and was unsatisfactory to the workers of the Relief De- 
partment. This type of relationship was particularly hard 
and trying on the clients, because it required their readjust- 
ing themselves to different workers, to different organiza- 
tions, different policies and methods of work. This pro- 
cedure involved not only divided responsibility which never 
produces the best results but frequently required changing 
workers at the most crucial point in the case work, a time 
when established confidence and rapport between client and 
worker is of the utmost importance. 

The same condition obtained in the Relief Department 
cases which required special handling, such as legal aid or 
National Desertion Bureau assistance. Such cases would 
frequently be turned over to the Bureau of Personal Ser- 
vice for handling, especially when financial assistance was 
not an important factor in the situation. Not only did this 
relationship militate against good case work because it 
made of the Relief Department just what its name implied 
and placed upon it the handicap under which most relief 
organizations labor, but it was directly responsible for the 
development of an unfriendly and contentious spirit between 
the workers of the two organizations. 

The situation was generally known but somehow noth- 
ing that was tried to remedy it was effectual. The official 
Survey of 1918 outlined the difficulties and made certain 
recommendations but these did not seem to meet the sit- 
uation, and no attempt was made to put them into effect. 
The conditions under which we worked were most un- 
wholesome. Although the relationship between the two 
superintendents was most cordial and, although there was 
a real desire on their part to cooperate, the situation was 
such as to make effective work very difficult if not impos- 


38 


sible. Everyone, from the clerks and stenographers to the 
board members knew that the relationship between the two 
organizations was unsatisfactory and that there was a spirit 
of distrust and jealousy among the workers. Everyone 
also knew that some change was necessary and that it 
would have to come sooner or later. Just what the nature 
of the change is to be no one knew and various specuiations 
were indulged in by the workers, particularly since every- 
body knew that the survey made specific suggestions for a 
reorganization. 

Miss Low, Superintendent of the Bureau of Personal 
Service, had every reason to be dissatisfied with the relation- 
ship and was anxious to alter it. She considered that her 
organization was handicapped in being part of a relief giv- 
ing organization and very properly thought that if the 
Bureau were separated from the Jewish Aid Society with a 
separate Board of Directors it could make greater progress. 
She accordingly formulated a plan whereby the Bureau of 
Personal Service were to become a separate organization 
directly responsible to the Associated Jewish Charities 
through a board devoting all its energies to the develop- 
ment of the Bureau. This plan was submitted to and favor- 
ably considered by the authorities in preliminary discus- 
sions. However, Miss Low was too able an administrator 
and too keen a social engineer not to recognize the danger 
in her plan when it was outlined to her by the writer. It 
could lead to but one of two results if it were put into ef- 
fect. Either there would be developed two family case 
work agencies operating in the same field and therefore 
defeating their purpose as far as the good of the community 
is concerned, or there would be constant friction and animus 
between the two organizations, and it was by no means 
certain that both conditions would not obtain at the same 
time. It seemed quite clear that the only sound reorgani- 
zation would be to combine both organizations into one, 
with one administrative head. The writer pledged that he 
would use all of his energies and influence in the promotion 
of this plan and offered to help her in every way possible 
in the reorganization if she would accept the general super- 
intendency, even to the extent of remaining with the or- 
ganization during the first six months after the change. 
However, Miss Low did not feel physically equal to the 
task and prevailed upon the writer to assume the responsi- 


39 - 


bility of putting the reorganization into effect and develop- 
ing the type of an organization which she had dreamt of for 
many years. After days of discussion this was finally 
agreed to and Miss Low undertook to present the matter 
to the authorities. The plan was so sound that it com- 
mended itself to all. It was decided, therefore, to amal- 
gamate the Relief Department and the Bureau of Personal 
Service on January 1, 1921, and Miss Low was to become 
Associate Director of the Research Bureau of the Asso- 
ciated Jewish Charities which would give her the oppor- 
tunity for community work which she had been looking 
forward to for many years, in which capacity she remained 
until her untimely death in May of 1922. 


4) 


JevaUarae ABE 
SECTION 2 


BUILDING A SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY 


General Problems and Developments after Amalgamation 


January, 1921 to January 1st, 1925 


Although the amalgamation between the Bureau of Per- 
sonal Service and the Relief Department officially took 
place on January Ist, 1921, the physical change did not 
actually take place until April Ist, of the same year. The 
delay was helpful because it gave the staff members of 
both organizations an opportunity to become accustomed 
to the idea of one organization, and allowed for the develop- 
ment of attitudes of co-operation and mutual helpfulness. 
What was more important was the fact that during this 
time plans could be formulated for the reorganization so that 
we were not altogether unprepared for the problems which 
had to be faced later. 


The plan for the new organization which was then con- 
ceived and which has served as a guide in the development 
since then, was that the Jewish Social Service Bureau, as 
the newly reorganized agency was called, should be a case- 
work agency with general departments doing the family 
case work, and that there should be such special depart- 
ments as may be necessary to strengthen and supplement 
the work done by the case workers. ‘These special de- 
partments were to handle special problems too difficult for 
the general departments to handle, either because of their 
inherent nature or because they require special preparation, 
unusual intensity, and continuity of effort not possible in 
the general departments because of the large variety of 
problems handled, and also because of the necessity for 
sufficient flexibility to handle emergency situations. It 
was also contemplated that the special departments should 
stand in a consulting and advisory capacity to the workers 
in the general departments on the problems requiring the 


41 


methods and techniques developed in the special depart- 
ments. 

There were at this time the following distinct subdivi- 
sions in the Relief Department: three districts in which 
the family case work was being done, each of these had a 
supervisor and four workers; a Visiting Housekeeping De- 
partment with one worker, a Self Support Department 
with one worker; a Supply Department in which were 
stored the supplies which were being given to the clients 
as material relief; the Clerical Department, including the 
Record Room, where the old, non-current records were 
kept,—the current records having been placed in the res- 
pective supervisors’ offices during the previous year; a 
Bookkeeping Department which included the cashier’s of- 
fice; and a general interviewing room. 

The Bureau of Personal Service had the following de- 
partments: A department which did the domestic difficulty 
work, which as a matter of fact, was family case work; a 
Legal Aid Department; a Mental Hygiene Department; a 
Boys’ Department; a Juvenile Department (later the Girls’ 
Department) ; a Clerical Department which cared for the 
clerical work including the records of the organization; a 
Statistical Department; an interviewing room and a De- 
partment for Institutional Visitation. 

The first task that was tackled was to divide the city 
into five districts with four workers and a supervisor in 
each district, thus absorbing approximately 175 cases which 
were formerly handled in the Domestic Difficulty Depart- 
ment of the Bureau of Personal Service. An attempt was 
also made to draw a clear line of demarcation between the 
work of the various special departments and the districts, 
so that there would be no duplication of function. It was of 
course. clearly understood by everyone that all this was 
temporary and was merely to provide a working basis for 
the organization. In addition to this, the interviewing of 
both organizations was concentrated in one person. 

The next problem was the combining and interfiling 
of records. When it is borne in mind that the two organi- 
zations had more than fifty thousand records and complaint 
cards and that a good many of these were duplicates between 
the two departments, some idea may be had of the task 
which the organization faced in interfiling. The records 
had to be identified and interfiled and current work carried 


42 


on at the same time. All of this was done without any 
extra help by workers, each of whom had more to do than 
could be expected in the normal day’s work without any 
additional burden being thrown upon them. The loyalty, 
zeal and devotion to the common cause which every mem- 
ber of the Staff, both professional and clerical, displayed at 
this time was the best evidence of the unusually fine spirit 
which had been developed in the two organizations, and 
served to greatly encourage those who were responsible for 
the amalgamation. 

It became quite clear as the work progressed that the 
new organization, if it were to become the type of organi- 
zation which it was hoped it would be, required a completely 
new set of forms. Neither the forms of the former Relief 
Department nor those of the Bureau of Personal Service 
were adequate for the new organization because in effect 
the new organization was neither one nor the other nor yet 
a combination of the two. New methods of control had to 
be devised because of the size of the organization, a differ- 
ent set of policies had to be established and working ar- 
rangements between the various departments developed be- 
cause of the complex nature of the organization. Had the 
workers been less patient than they were, they would have 
had ample cause to find fault with the progress and with the 
conditions under which they worked during the first six 
months of the amalgamation. 

In line with the view which was held regarding the type 
of organization the J. S. S. B. was to be, it was aimed to 
concentrate on the districts and to develop their work and 
the necessary methods of control to as high a degree of 
efficiency as was possible under the circumstances. There 
was another reason which induced us to concentrate on 
the family case work and that was the fact that the case 
workers, particularly those among them who had the prob- 
lem of financial relief to administer, were working under a 
great disadvantage because their work was considered as 
purely ameliorative and on a lower plane than the other 
forms of work in the organization. This attitude toward 
family case work, especially toward the so called “relief 
work,” is or at least was at that time fairly general among 
social workers so that relief workers developed a sort of 
“inferiority complex.” It was necessary in order to offset 
this attitude, to develop the case work to so fine a point 


AZ: 


that the other workers would necessarily begin to look up 
to the case workers working with families as having a 
technique which is better than the technique in the special 
departments. Furthermore, it was quite clear that the 
family case work would always be the backbone of the 
organization because of the quantity of work to be done and 
also because this type of work is more likely to bring com- 
munity censure when not well done, than were the other 
types of work which the organization was doing at the 
time. ) 

It was evident from the first that if the organization was 
to develop properly it had to develop as many and as strong 
sub-executives, to handle the particular phases of the work, 
as was possible. This could be done only by giving them 
as much responsibility and even a little more than they could 
carry, but at the same time it seemed necessary to institute 
a system of control which would give the executive an 
accurate index of the quantity and quality of work that was 
being done. | 

As regards the qualitative phases of the work, it could 
not be hoped that the superintendent would ever be in a 
position to be in close and intimate touch with any very 
large proportion of the cases handled by the organization. 
But it was recognized, at the same time, that it was essen- 
tial that someone other than those immediately responsible 
for the case work, should be in a position to review the case 
work as it was being done, and bring to it the objectivity 
and detached point of view which an outsider frequently has. 
We were fortunate in securing the services of a former dis- 
trict superintendent of the United Charities, who had also 
taught case work in the School of Civics and Philanthropy, 
and who became case reviewer in the organization. The case 
reviewer, acting also in: the capacity of Case Consultant, 
was extremely helpful in raising the standards of work in 
the organization. The workers and supervisors accepted 
her comments, criticisms, and suggestions wholeheartedly, 
because they themselves were eager for as much light on the 
many problems which they faced, as could be given them. 

From the quantitative standpoint the methods of con- 
trol devised and instituted, were more immediate and ac- 
curate. The work of the organization was divided into 
two categories for purposes of control. One category re- 
lated to the financial expenditures in the organization and 


44 


lent itself to the financial accounting. The other dealt with 
the service phase of the work and lent itself to the service 
accounting. 

For purposes of financial accounting, all cases of the 
organization in which financial assistance was granted, were 
divided into two groupings: (a) regulars, such families as 
have been with the organization for some time, where the 
investigation has proceeded to the satisfaction of the work- 
ers and supervisors, and where a fairly definite plan for the 
treatment of the family has been arrived at; and (b) in- 
termittent and emergency cases, such families as come to 
the organization from time to time, require temporary 
financial assistance, and in which the situation is being 
studied in order to determine upon a plan of action. 

In the first group, because of their regularity and more 
or less prolonged treatment, the greatest possible care is 
necessary if the family is not to suffer from the effects of 
continuous relief. As outlined in the first part of this re- 
view, the effects of a more or less routine method of send- 
ing the remittances to the families had been observed, and 
a change of policy seemed essential. This was made pos- 
sible by a plan which provided for a monthly review of the 
family situation by the workers and supervisors. In brief, 
the method is as follows.* 

As is customary in all well established family welfare 
organizations, all family expenditures are based upon a 
family budget which is worked out by dieticians with re- 
gard to the minimum needs of dependent families. The 
organization, as indicated elsewhere, was using at this time 
the Nesbitt Budget for dependent families, published by 
the Chicago Council of Social Agencies. In accordance 
with this budget the members of families are all classifiable 
in twelve categories called units. Unit I stands for the 
man. Unit II stands for the woman or house working girl. 
Unit III stands for a boy at work. Unit IV stands for a 
girl at work. Unit V stands for a boy in high school. Unit 
VI stands for a girl in high school. Unit VII stands for a 
boy 12-14 in elementary school. Unit VIII stands for a 
girl 12-14:\in elementary school. Unit IX stands for chil- 
dren 9-12. Unit X stands for children 6-9. Unit XI stands 


*A detailed description of the method will be found in a study 
to be published by the Jewish Social Service Bureau in the near 
future. 


45 


for children under 6. Unit XII stands for a man in- 
capacitated. 7 

The various items entering into the family budget are 
calculated for each of these units, and in this way a fairly 
standard and uniform expenditure per unit is arrived at. 
Because of the danger of using any budget too strictly, 
certain items known as “non-budgetary items” are allowed 
as “extras” on each of the budgets, and it is here that the 
workers and supervisors can deviate from the fixed schedule 
and make allowances for the differences in various families. 
The classification of the various family members into well 
defined units with uniform expenditures for each of these 
units, with the non-standard items as “extras,” has made 
possible a degree of control never before realized. First 
of all, each of the workers in the organization handling re- 
lief problems, is required to submit a budget at the be- 
ginning of each month for the needs of her regular families 
during the coming month. This means that each of the 
workers is obliged to go over with the supervisor the situ- 
ations in each of her families every month, which in turn 
necessitates a re-canvassing of the sources of income 
monthly; at any rate it brings the problem of the relief ex- 
penditures for the various families into the worker’s con- 
sciousness, which in itself is a desirable thing. 

The estimates submitted by the workers make possible 
various comparisons and studies as to the extent of ex- 
penditures in the various districts and sections of each dis- 
trict, which are very helpful for purposes of control. They 
make possible monthly and yearly comparisons of the same 
items for the various districts and the organizations as a 
whole. In addition to this, these estimates make possible 
comparisons between case counts and expenditures, due re- 
gard being paid to the structure of families. On the basis. 
of these reports also, it is possible to compare the estimates, 
submitted by the sections and districts. As a result of all 
this the superintendent receives about the middle of each 
month a series of tables which are a fairly accurate index 
of the financial expenditures in the organization in relation 
to the work done. After three years’ experience with these 
tables it is now possible to say that there is a very high 
degree of positive correlation between the quantitative and 
qualitative work of a given department. Not only is the 
ratio between expenditures and case counts fairly con- 


46 


stant, but deviations beyond a certain point, somewhat 
similar to the standard deviation, are a fairly accurate index 
of the quality of the case work done in the given depart- 
ments. 

As previously explained, the “regular” cases because of 
their more permanent nature, lend themselves to control 
much more readily than do the “intermittents” and “emer- 
gencies.” Although the same budget with some minor 
modifications is applied to this latter group, they are never- 
theless not nearly as expensive as are the regulars. In fact 
the average cost of intermittent families is approximately 
three-quarters of that of regular families. 

Because of the greater degree of control available for 
regular cases, it might be suspected that visitors and super- 
visors would consciously or unconsciously refrain from es- 
tablishing regulars in order “to make a good showing.” This 
would be, obviously, unfair and unwise, and would, if it 
were generally practised, seriously effect the reliability of 
the device as a means of control besides being most in- 
jurious to the family because it would keep from it neces- 
sary funds. The only method for controlling this, thus far 
devised outside of a case review, is to list the expenditures 
on each of the intermittent families. Where any regularity 


| of expenditures appears for any considerable length of time, 


the worker and supervisor are asked why the given family 
is not on the regular list. To the credit of the staff be it 
said that one such study which was made for a period of a 
year and six months has shown not one family which was 
kept from the regular list when it should have been placed 
there. 

It may be argued that methods of such strict accounting 
might tend to mechanize and routinize the case workers. 
To this argument it can only be countered that the actual 
processes of budget making differ in no essential respect 
from those in vogue in any responsible organization; that 
all family expenditures are based upon some arbitrary units 
whether they are five or twelve, and that without some 
system of adequate control the workers, because of the con- 
stant pressure under which they work, are bound to become 
lax in their thinking and action with the inevitable re- 
sults of the families suffering either because of too little 
or too much relief-being sent in. The method described en- 
forces a rigid adherence to standards, accepted by the or- 


47 


ganization as a general policy, but allows for conscious 
deviation on the part of the workers and supervisors which 
is as broad and liberal as in any organization, at the same 
time it recognizes and takes advantage of the psychological 
fact, that accounting for one’s actions tends to make one 
much more careful and deliberative. 

Parallel with the financial reports which the workers and 
supervisors submit monthly there are service reports which 
are used for the purpose of service accounting. 

Thus far it has not been possible to develop a method of 
control for service to any degree comparable with the con- 
trol over the financial expenditures. Here the element of 
individual difference on the part of worker and client enters 
to a much greater degree than it does in the financial re- 
quirements of families in so far as the ability of the organi- 
zation to meet them, is concerned. There are three con- 
cepts which have thus far been used in social agencies for 
the purpose of accounting for service on the part of pro- 
fessional staff. These are in terms of: (a) cases handled, 
(b) visits made, and (c) problems dealt with. : 

(a) The “case” as a unit for service accounting* is no 
more satisfactory than it is for purposes of financial account- 
ing. A case may be one in which there is one individual, or 
twelve or more individuals. It may be temporary and it 
may be permanent. It may require one visit or scores of 
visits. With the “case” as a unit of accounting no insight 
is gained into the nature and difficulty of the task confront- 
ing the case worker, nor is it any index of the amount of 
effort which the social worker puts forth in the handling 
of the “case.” At the present time there is no definite 
knowledge as to whether a case worker should handle ten 
or fifty cases, nor is there any information available as to 
whether a supervisor should be expected to handle 100 or 
200 cases, nor is any progress likely to be made in this re- 
gard so long as the unit of accounting remains as complex 
and involved as is the term “case.” 

(b) The term “visit,” while simpler than the term “case,” 
is nevertheless no more satisfactory than is the term “case.” 
Visits differ in their quality and duration. Visitors differ 
in their intensity, in the directness of their approach, in 


*The unit. for accounting should not be confused with the unit 
for the case work process itself, in which the family must be the 
unit for study, planning and effort. 


48 


their planfulness for visits, and in their ability to make their 
visits count. Information was kept for about two years as to 
the number of visits per day which the visitors made, and 
on the basis of this information we are fairly safe in say- 
ing that this cannot be used as any criterion or accurate 
index to the work of the visitors. At best it can be used 
as a sign to the executive that things are not well when the 
number of visits made by a visitor deviates materially from 
the average (see Table 1). In several instances the reports 
on visits were the first indications that a worker was fall- 
ing very much behind in his work. A study of his work 
invariably disclosed that not only was it poor in quantity, 
but also in quality, so that remedial measures were taken. 
Aside from being a “danger sign” it is likely to have very 
little value so long as there is not a greater differentiation 
of the types of problems which the visits are intended to 
treat. 

(c) The “problem” seems to be the simplest and most 
elementary unit thus far conceived. Because of the dis- 
satisfaction on the part of the executive and staff of the 
Jewish Social Bureau with the current methods of account- 
ing, a number of problems were listed and defined for the 
purposes of classifying the cases handled in the various 
departments, at the same time providing a set of concepts 
which should indicate something of the nature of the situ- 
ation which the case presented and the treatment which it 
required. ‘These problems, 40 in number,* were used for 
the purpose of analyzing the case work situations which 
came to the attention of the workers. A visible index card 
was devised which provides an opportunity for signalling 
these problems, and for recording such changes in them as 
come to light either because of treatment or further in- 
vestigation. This card also provides space for recording 
the types and frequency of visits so that the supervisor has 
before her a graphic picture of the situation which the case 
worker is handling in terms of fairly fundamental concepts. 
This card, when properly used, will give a fairly accurate 
indication of the intensity and distribution of the work as 
it expresses itself in the various types of visits made in the 
case work procedure. The visitors and supervisors report 


*See pages 201, 202, and 209 for problems and definitions used 
in the family case work districts. 


49 


TABLE 1 


DISTRIBUTION OF VIH7TS /HR DAY 
BY PAONTHS,- DISTRICTS AMD SECTIONS 


aero 

eee] J T= | [a [ee es Tele oo es To [Tole tt 

| 
6 


Aj2shxa|—las[—| | | lesbos fo far|zolasizziaz|z2| | | |selagle-| 
|—|eolsalvolv¢lxol | | bslazlesfevlas|elewee|—| || 
s3|szlaalagizzia7 | | |ezlsabeelas beolzslesvelue| | | ba [eeler 

Gl Te eee ae Ltt fezbes|ze| 


eulrs|sy|volv|a7| [| sleziezieslerlesiyeleziz/| | | [velszles all 
Pi 
| ze cag 76 


S| 


Baa 
Ee 
a5 
ES 
eet 
Shee 
ei 
Fe 
EY 
ml 
| 
CEE 
<I] 
=| 
=| 
aR 
x 
ae 
ies 
HEE 
BES 
HME 
ST | 
ST 


& edzolaeh a= oboe ead fastarteeten| th tesla 

pelzelssofedec| | | lasreiecteetvctetet se | — a 27 

zelzaadasqoalz/| |_| |eolsse|— ze lackestve| — | ie a 2.2] 

Seam ale EEE Pbsbesstebet Tbs EY, aa 

ER GBR es GS ee 

a! 
(F\42 


& 


Rae 
D873 \ 

es|¥alevbeol | | lazlesleebezlaslaz|vovelor| | | [ws lzoled 

lvslwalerisclésyal | | [volarlye |u| [wolvolu [sol | | bolwe|zs| 

saleregze|vol | | Welewlasier|as|e, lsclevter| | | Wwsles|zs| 

| |— |= ]—|—]=-|- |eziasy Tt [| |) 


osraASccAie7| ¥s|¥2 la [se |valas, | | [aa|ar|e7 [ool oo [| bealeg | 29] 
re aly lealepaleololaa| lll ee #aledeolze| | | [eslesieg 
A242 


a 
\ 
S {of 


eee 
xt 
+) 


| = clus] vs|wolre| 4/29 FEMUMPNCAREPH inErnPar me 
ole afv|vele ele seed TT [orl soluselweleslvotelee| || Wal 2/26 |e 


a ee eee ee 
EET A a POU aa 
ssa doa Ter Lr a 
| ales feepedvol els feel TY Pe alacbestaz|aadoele [=I  [ Iolasdea 
 clafrlvol“obelwr|vol TT dasler|ae [2/-e[- |zebebee “) 
a Cs ET 
el |= [eedreler|orlod TT [ole les|oedcolediedeo| 1 | bslwolse| 
ae ee oT Tor Te ae eh inca [ deeleolet 


vow toboler leaded 1 t lezleces ala lelegldes Halzelee 
oat 7 
woseleteel | | isis Beebe) 1 1 


SALCIAL SAECIAL DEPARTMENTS. = 
EAP aE 
dee | alerkeleezbeolerbol TL boelealeectelaeelscleed [1 fel ce 

Pcheseclecteobaleete [VT beleolelebildeleteleal TL baledel | I 
[rel = [Ler ee llores lee oda aa 


et ae eee all 
oe tT. 

Be 

73 Jo 


eer TGP all 


2s betas [asta Zelasleelesles|[esiez|en, | | [a eleales 


~ SRA Zee eleelentzelerl | Teel eelea oslo eel eel ace | | stezle| 


= be bee 7 elz0] - [pale Phere 
epee feb beslacbebs be eee SEZmriae 
[acon be balsoleelaeleele[ | 1 Weolre feefoalse|s0 | velo 


~ Yaca7 Wom fdIOn THs 


50 


to the executive office each month the kinds and numbers 
of problems which they handle. This information is then 
tabulated for the purpose of comparison along the same 
lines as in the case of the financial information. Such 
problems as are imdicative of financial expenditures are 
correlated with the expenditures so that trends and ten- 
dencies may be studies. 

While we feel that in the “problem” we have a more 
elementary and fundamental unit than was heretofore avail- 
able, we feel also that we have not as yet fully developed 
the control which this unit makes possible. The “problem” 
as a method of service accounting was introduced sometime 
in 1922. It took the workers about six months before they 
acquired the necessary ease and facility for analysis and 
treatment of their case work situations in terms of these 
problems. All of us feel that as far as we have gone with 
this method, it has proved invaluable because of the more 
accurate and careful analysis of case work situations which 
it has fostered on the part of the workers. It has also given 
the supervisors a considerable degree of control of a rather 
informal kind through the visible index.* Administratively, 
however, comparatively little has been done with this body 
of material. 

At the time that this method was first introduced into 
the organization it was believed that there is a cause and 
effect relation between certain problems. Also, that certain 
problems will be found, upon careful analysis, to be asso- 
ciated with certain other problems. Furthermore, that some 
problems are relatively more simple and yield more readily 
to treatment than others. The. determination of these re- 
lations seems to us just as essential for the development of 
a scientific basis for social case work as is the knowledge 
of the relation of diseases to each other and their relative 
degree of morbidity for medicine. In other words, if case 
work is ever to become more than a common sense, trial 
and error method, and if its technique is ever to be based 
upon principles determined by scientific procedure, then 


*It should be pointed out that great caution was exercised 
so as not to make the compilation of this information an end in 
itself, and that the aim was to make the methods simple in order 
not to consume too much of the time of the workers. Inquiries 
were made of the workers from time to time and it was found 
that no more than two to four hours a month was required for 
any worker to compile her reports. 


8 


case workers must use methods similar to the ones which 
other techniques are using. They must analyze the complex 
situations even as the chemist analyzes his compounds 
and the physician analyzes pathological situations, which 
he undertakes to treat, into their respective elements. Once 
this is done, the case worker will have materials which 
will lend themselves to the method of science and he will be 
able to study, classify, and discover the relation between the 
various elements. That these relationships can be ascer- 
tained only through most careful study and experimentation 
goes without saying. 

Accordingly, we are now engaged in studying the ma- 
terials accumulated during 1923 in approximately 800 cases 
which were handled and closed during that year. The study 
is being made by Dr. Erle F. Young, formerly of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago and now of the University of Southern 
California, with the direction and help of the writer. We 
are not able to say, at the present time, just what this study 
will reveal. We are aiming at as critical and as objective 
an evaluation of the methods of control in the Jewish Social 
Service Bureau as is possible, and to determine whether 
these methods, including that of service accounting, have 
any permanent value, and whether they should be developed. 

No amount of statistical control can be effective unless 
the people who are applying it and whom it is designed to 
help and guide remain with the organization long enough 
to profit from it. Those who have been concerned with the 
problem of staff, whether in social service or in other fields 
of human endeavor, have long since recognized the tre- 
mendous cost of large turnover. Various industries have 
spent countless sums of money in studying the cause, effect, 
and costs of turnover. Various methods of reducing turn- 
over have been tried out in industry, and millions of dollars 
are spent annually in combating this destructive influence 
in all human enterprise. Social service is no. exception to 
the rule. As a matter of fact, because of the conditions 
prevailing in social service, the low salaries and compara- 
tively low status of the social work as compared with 
other professions, a large percentage of turnover which is 
detrimental to the best development of the work prevails. 
If the comparatively standardized operations in industry 
suffer from turnover because of the time it takes to teach 
new workers these processes, simple and standardized as 


92 


they are, how much more costly must it be in social service, 
where standardization is unknown and perhaps not pos- 
sible for a great many years to come; where each case is 
handled on its own merits and with little regard to previous 
experiences, and where the situations which the case worker 
is called upon to deal with are as complex, as intricate and 
delicate as can only be imagined? 

Social work has thus far not developed a method for 
teaching its processes to new workers with any degree of 
effectiveness, and comparatively little transmittable ma- 
terial is available at the present time. The case worker is, 
to a very large extent, thrown on her own resources. At 
best, she has the guidance of a more experienced super- 
visor who has her intuitions and experiences, which may 
or may not be valuable, to guide her in training the novice. 
The writer believes that it is not too much to say that a 
new worker coming into case work is not of real value in 
the first year or two although she may be handling thirty 
or forty or fifty families. When, in the light of the above, 
the large percent of turnover in social service agencies is 
borne in mind,* it must be clear that here is a source of 
danger and a reason for ineffectiveness in social service 
which may well threaten its best delelopment besides being 
most injurious to the people to be served. 

One of the most important problems, therefore, which 
the organization faced was the stabilization of the staff. 
It was fully realized that many of the members of the staff 
did not have the preparation and equipment, nor the ability 
which constantly advancing standards in social case work 
demanded. On the other hand there were persons who had 
a great deal of experience and who, if given opportunities 
for study, would develop so that they would be more valu- 
able than young college graduates who might be gotten to 
take their places. There were then two phases to this 
problem: The first was to supplant those members of the 
staff who did not have the necessary qualifications and 
capacity for development with persons of training and 
ability who would accumulate experience which would make 
them valuable, and secondly, to bring to the older workers, 
particularly the supervisors, such opportunities for study 
as they could take advantage of. 


*See Tables 2, 3, 4 and Chart II, pages 54 and 55. 
53 


SisuoleqoIg JO dAISN[IXyA— x Sulaevs] S1ouoleqo1g— qd 


DIAIIG [BUOSIOg FIEIS Ul sseoIDUy— & 
JO neaing pue juswjiedsqd forjoy JeaX SULINp SUIAvZ] SUOSI9g JO “ON—S°- 
jo uonewesjeme 0} onp osseoiouy— ft JeaX SulLInp posesus suosi9g JO “ON— V 

S9ATNIIXY-Gns JeaX JO puy }e suolyIsog JO ‘ON—,. 
pue soanoexy JO oAISn[OXyY— # Jed JO 4Sily ye suonIsog Jo ‘ON—,g 


Hl ve 
a 9 ST 
% ‘ON | % - "ON | % i : % “ON | % ‘ON | % “ONS Psd 1d 
a Ww S 40A0 suoljaI0V suoneiedas SUOISSIDDV oseq wie 
JOAOUIN J, -uIn], [euors e S V 
xTOAOHINE ION] ssouoneqoig | -Seyo1g [viol 


(2aisnjIuy) pZ6T °F OZ6T S402K IY 404 
‘a S'S {dO #44VLS IVNOISSHAOUd AO YHAONUNL 
¢ HTave 


TABLE 3 


DLRCINTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF SLOARATIONS 
OF STAFF (IEMBERS OF THE SSB Of CHICAGO BY CAUSES 


~ AN 1920.7° JAI /9Z5— 


Trae’ Wont 
Year| Marerace | Ortte Moen \recOrecren7 Seay Boe any LLVeSS. preter 


OCA rtrd 
ATHY a vee “0h ire 


Bere eet ate 


es fel | [oles bo] be] de] el el 


Sqae Seana 
fools [ele ole eel | [oe 
ila nas lod [ale 


TABLE 4 


SUMMARY TABLE OF LENGTH OF SERVIC 
PRESEN Pes LAL EOE TOeAND INCLUDING 


EIN YEARS’ OF 
DECEMBER, 1924 


10 Sea nome cmsia romaine ho Mee ye ee 6 
Bessithanmioeyarremmaumore than:S:y@ars 2... cise tk cattvess gees cde 9 
bess thanmosvertasatitemoresthat 6. Vears.i cud a 12 
Less that oO; Vearssanaumore that: 4 years)... sel ket 18 
ess thanmetsyeaterncemore tial o. Yearse..).:., 2a koe Meee 24 
Pyessatiiatroeved tosrmcdraoresthiatl 2 °VeGar so... ek Seis ce enc cavecane OZ 
Less thanwetyeargeamomuore than 1 year. oso 49 
GHAR T 11 


A ASIZ28B WORMERS OF CHICAGO 
AW 1920 7° LLC O24 INALLS/VE) 


TRAVE 
ine 


Srupoy 
O THER brew 


187%, 


/NCOMPETENCE 
2/9 % 


MARRIAGE 
234 PA 


FELAT/VE VALUES OF CAUSES OF SEPARATIONS 


Various attempts were made to interest young people 
in the universities in the middle west in social service as a 
_ profession by establishing contacts with the faculties in 
the social science departments. Scholarships were made 
available at the University of Chicago for junior and senior 
students, and every possible effort was made to secure 
people of good training for the work. An interesting fact 
which appeared rather early in the attempt at raising the 
standard of workers was the observation that such people 
as prepared themselves for social service by taking a course 
of study leading to the profession of social service repre- 
sented the most stable element among the workers. Ob- 
viously it is more difficult for persons who have prepared 
_themselves for social service to leave the profession than for 
college graduates who merely “drifted in.” With the former 
group it is known among their friends that they had pre- 
pared for social service. To leave it is to change their 
profession, a thing not so very easy because it is naturally 
assumed that either the person made a mistake in selecting 
the wrong profession, or he is incompetent and inefficient 
and not adaptable to the work. Whatever the excuse for 
leaving, it is not conducive to improving the status of the 
person in his group if he leaves the work after specifically 
preparing for it. With the others, however, it is not nearly 
as serious. Rather can they boast of a certain amount of 
adventuresomeness in going about from field to field and 
“tasting” of what each has to offer before finally settling 
down. In addition, the social service school serves as a 
selecting medium since students have an opportunity to 
test themselves before actually entering the work. In this 
way the schools of social work serve to reduce the turn- 
over and save the agencies the cost of training people who. 
are unsuited for the work. As soon as this was realized a 
premium was put upon specific training for the work and 
we made it increasingly more difficult, as the availability of 
trained persons made it possible to do so, for any one to 
enter the organization without a definite pledge as to length 
of service. Finally, it was possible, in 1922, to insist upon a 
probationary period of three to six months and a pledge 
for a subsequent service period of at least a year and a 
half. This insured the organization of at least two years 
of service for each worker taken in and what was more 
important it served to keep out persons who were not 


56 


serious in their desire to engage in social work. While this 
was not always adhered to by the workers, they were held to 
it insofar as possible with the exception of cases of illness, 
marriage, or other reasons beyond the control of the worker. 
Fortunately it was possible to increase the salaries of the 
workers so that although they are still far from being 
adequate, they are much nearer being a “living wage” than 
ever before. It may be definitely stated that in the two 
years since the inauguration of these policies the staff has 
been stabilized to a very considerable extent, and such 
changes as take place now, are usually for the improvement 
of the service: 

The problem was more difficult with regard to the older 
workers who had not had the necessary training for social 
work but who, as aforementioned, possessed the necessary 
ability and in addition had accumulated considerable prac- 
tical experience, thus making them invaluable to the organi- 
zation. Gradually, as more and more workers of training 
came into the organization a rather interesting though un- 
conscious conflict was observable. Here, on the one hand,. 
were young people recently out of college with the con- 
fidence and exuberance of spirit which young college grad- 
uates frequently possess, who were, in a measure at least, a 
challenge to the older workers. On the other hand, the latter 
felt that “these youngsters” may have more learning, but are 
“children” in experience. What was much more serious was 
the fact that the older workers were not very encouraging 
to the younger people because the insistence upon training 
tended to lower their own status. Accordingly, they un- 
consciously deprecated such few attempts as the younger 
workers would make to use and apply the concepts and 
theories which they learned in their social science courses. 
Nor could the younger workers withstand the onslaught 
of experience. They were forced to admit that their inex- 
perience was a serious handicap and that it resulted in their 
being ineffective in the work. Gradually they accepted 
the line of least resistance and adopted the methods in 
vogue in the organization. i 

This was a serious situation because it tended to nullify 
the benefits which might come to the work because of the 
better trained workers. Obviously if the problem were to 


*Cf turn-over in 1924 with 1922 and 1923, Table 2 p. 54. 
of 


be solved the solution lay in offering special educational 
facilities to the more experienced workers. This would 
not only eliminate the reason for the conflict as noted, but 
would result in making the older workers even more valuable 
to the organization than they already were. Because of 
their experience and maturity special courses seemed ad- 
visable for this group and we induced Professor Burgess 
of the department of sociology of the University of Chi- 
cago, to work out a course of study for the supervisors, so 
that they might get the benefits of the latest discoveries 
and formulations in social science. The course as developed, 
although called “Applied Sociology,” was designed to bring 
to the workers the concepts developed in psychology, soci- 

ology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis, so that they could 
- familiarize themselves with the terms and methods of an- 
alysis which these disciplines employ. It was expected 
that this would result in better case work thinking and 
would incidentally bring about a greater homogeneity of 
educational background between the younger and older 
workers than was the rule. This course was given for 24 
weeks, and although the workers could not give the time 
and energy to it to get the maximum benefit from the 
course, it nevertheless had considerable effect on the work 
of the organization. Gradually because of this and other 
educational efforts, a more scientific terminology came 
to be used and a more receptive attitude was developed 
on the part of the entire organization toward training. 
As the older workers obtained greater facility in the use 
of the concepts, they were naturally more at ease with 
them and were less hostile to the younger workers in their 
use of them. 

Various other attempts at improving the standards 
among the workers were made. Workers were encouraged 
to take courses in the Extension Department of the Uni- 
ersity of Chicago in so far as this was possible. Standards 
of case work and case recording were developed by com- 
mittees appointed from among the workers. One such com- 
mittee attempted to prepare an outline for the study of the 
personalities of clients presenting unusually difficult be- 
havior problems. This outline was later developed by the 
chairman of the committee with the help of the entire or- 
ganization, antl has become the means of training new 
workers in the intensive study of family and personality 


58 


difficulties. It has been a very important factor in bring- 
ing to the staff a realization of the need for careful and 
accurate thinking and investigation in case work problems. 

Case workers, during the last few years, have realized 
the importance of a knowledge, on the part of the case 
workers, of the cultural backgrounds of the people with 
whom they deal. This is particularly necessary on the 
part of case workers dealing with Jewish clients because of 
the definite and differentiated culture of the Jewish people. 
The recognition of this need is general among case workers, 
Jewish and non-Jewish, and was partly responsible for the 
National Conference of Jewish Social Service initiating the 
organization of a National School for Jewish Social Ser- 
vice. In our own organization the realization of this need 
gave rise to a series of lectures given by Dr. Alexander M. 
Dushkin, Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education. His 
lectures on “Jewish History,” and “Ghetto Culture, and its 
Influence on Contemporary Jewish Life,’ were attended by 
practically the entire staff, and were greatly appreciated. 
The hope was frequently expressed that more of this type 
of knowledge may be made available to case workers deal- 
ing with cultural groups. 

At the time this is written (December, 1924), the major- 
ity of our professional staff consists of university graduates. 
A considerable number have done graduate work in the 
social sciences. There are representatives in our organi- 
zation of most of the universities throughout the country, 
but especially those in Chicago and the middle west. The 
University of Chicago is naturally représented by the 
largest number. Seventeen members of the staff being 
graduates of the University, with a very much larger num- 
ber having done special work there at one time or another. 


59 


SEC TLO NSS: 


DOES ADEQUATE SOCIAL WORK PAY? 
An Attempt at a Financial Evaluation of the Work Done 


The question will naturally be asked, what has all this 
availed? What were the effects of all these efforts at main- 
taining and improving high standards of case work on the 
work itself? What definite and concrete evidence is there 
that good case work is a worth while investment on the 
part a the workers and the community? 

It is much more difficult to answer these questions that 
to raise them. A large portion of social work, its effects 
and its beneficient results, must be taken for granted be- 
cause criteria have not as yet been developed which can 
measure, with any considerable accuracy, the savings which 
accrue to a community because of wise social work pro- 
grams, nor do we know, on the other hand, the cost to com- 
munities which the lack of adequate social work brings 
in its wake. A certain amount of imagination is required 
to visualize communities in relation to the necessary social 
work programs. Clear as the relation may be between the 
lack of constructive recreational and educational facilities 
and juvenile delinquency, an enormous amount of educa- 
tional work must be done before private and public bodies 
are ready to undertake the creation and the development of 
the necessary tacilities. 

It is almost impossible to evaluate social case work, or 
the lack of it, in terms of what it means to those whom it 
is to serve. Not only is it difficult to interpret family case 
work to a lay community, but social workers themselves 
have not as yet worked out an acceptable means for inter- 
preting and evaluating the results of their work. ‘‘Rehabil- 
itation” is a term frequently used by social workers and in- 
terested lay persons in discussions of case work. But no 
two persons are likely to agree as to what “rehabilitation” 
means and when a person or a family may be said to be re- 
habilitated. Standards of case work differ just as standards 
of living differ. What may be acceptable work from the 
standpoint of rehabilitation, to one social worker, may not 
be acceptable to another because “normal living” has not 
been clearly defined and no evaluation in definite terms has 
as yet been arrived at. Norms have not as yet been de- 


60 


veloped which would be acceptable to all those interested 
in judging the results of social work. 

Were it even possible to arrive at norms which could 
be used as criteria for measuring the results of social case 
work in terms of normal living, the question would na- 
turally arise as to the innate capacities of the clients of the 
social agency which are to be rehabilitated. Not all per- 
sons or families can be brought up to the same degree of 
normal living. What may be a very high standard for one 
family may be very low for another; whereas in one 
family the case worker may be aiming at a re-establishment 
of former living standards which were deviated from be- 
cause of a particular crisis or series of crises, in another 
family the aim of. the social worker may be entirely dif- 
ferent because the standards in that family were always so 
low that nothing can be done unless the standards them- 
Selves are raised. 

A concrete case may serve to illustrate our meaning. 
Sarah, a shop girl, the daughter of poor parents, married 
while quite young, Abraham, a machine operator, so that 
she might escape the monotony and drudgery of her home 
and shop. Not having had any education, training or ex- 
perience. in home making, she has not made a very good 
home for Abraham. The home was poorly kept, the food 
poorly prepared, she and the children were always unclean 
and unkempt, and in general the home was such as not to 
develop the best that was in the members in the family. 
The situation became even worse when after several years 
their family became quite large, it being enlarged by an 
additional member each year. This added work and worry 
to Sarah’s already too heavy burden. It is not difficult to 
imagine the outcome. The husband’s earnings could not 
keep pace with the increase in his family. His work became 
harder, the care and attention which he received from his 
wife became less and less, the children because of their 
lack of training, were an ever-increasing source of worry and 
aggravation until he broke down and was sent to a sani- 
tarium. Now comes the social agency. The question is 
what should be the aim of the social agency in this family. 
Should it be rehabilitation? If so, to what degree shall we 
rehabilitate it. - There never have. been any- acceptable 
housekeeping standards in the home. The children were 
never properly trained since neither the father nor the 


61. 


mother knew anything about training children. If the 
situation is to be relieved at all a process of education must 
be started which should result in bringing to this family 
a higher set of standards and ideals. This process can 
hardly be said to be rehabilitation because rehabilitation 
means a bringing back to a former status or a former status 
re-established. The process necessary in this family is one 
of education or “habilitation,” if we may coin the word. 

In the light of the above, how can we indicate, without 
giving a complete picture of the families with which we 
deal, what our work consists of and what the results are 
which we achieve. Nevertheless, it is quite clear that un- 
less some way is found in which social work may be pres- 
ented to the communities at large so that they may under- 
stand the need for it and its possibilities, little progress 
will be made. Two methods for so doing are now available. 
One of these is to relate case by case, describing the situa- 
tions which the social agency finds, the means which it em- 
ploys to adjust the difficulties, and the results which it 
achieves, so that those few in the community who are gen- 
uinely interested in the human problems which a social 
agency deals with, may have the material for spreading 
the gospel of social service among the rest of the com- 
munity who have neither the time nor the inclination to 
keep themselves intimately informed. The second method 
is to present through statistical data, which must be more 
or less arbitrary, such results as are measurable in quanti- 
tative terms. Neither method can stand alone. They are 
complementary to each other. In this section the latter 
method will be used because of the limitation of space, and 
it is hoped that in a more detailed study, previously men- 
tioned,* which is now being made of the work of the or- 
ganization, a picture may be presented of the qualitative 
aspects of the work of the organization which will round 
out the following statement. 

As already indicated, the quantitative aspects of the 
work of the organization can be best described by relating 
the financial expenditure for the entire organization to 
the case count which the organization has handled during 
the period. Chart III compares the total case count handled 
by the Relief Department and later by the Jewish Social 


*Page 52. 
62 


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III LA4VHO 


Service Bureau for,the period of January 1920, to December 
1924, with the financial expenditures for the same period. 
lt will be noted that whereas the case count rises to a point 
where it is more than three times as high as in April 1920, 
the expenditures increase only slightly and are, on the 
whole, fairly stationary, such increases as appear being 
accounted for by our assuming new responsibilities from 
other organizations. Startling as this comparison seems, 
it becomes even more interesting on further analysis. We 
had an opportunity to make this analysis in May 1922, when 
the President and Superintendent of the Jewish Social Ser- 
vice Bureau were invited to appear before the Board of 
Directors of the Associated Jewish Charities to explain the 
work and accomplishments of the Jewish Social Service 
Bureau. A number of special studies were made for this 
occasion and the results of these studies were charted in 
order to present graphically some of the more outstanding 
financial achievements of the organization up to that date. 
The last figures available at that time were for March 1922, 
and these were compared with the figures for the same 
month in 1921 and 1920, with astonishing results. 

It was found, for instance, that whereas the number of 
cases not requiring financial assistance, handled by the 
Bureau in March 1922, increased 175% over the same type 
of cases in March 1920, (784 cases as compared with 284), 
and whereas the number of cases requiring intermittent 
and emergency relief increased 199% in March 1922 over 
March 1920, (305 in 1922 as compared with 102 in 1920), 
this tremendous increase in work was carried with only 
a very slight increase 1n appropriation from the Associated 
Jewish Charities, approximately $3000 or less than a 10% 
increase in funds. In other words, the J. S. S. B. handled 
almost 200% more work in March 1922 than in March 1920, 
with an increase in funds of less than 10%. This phe- 
nomenal showing seemed even more remarkable when it 
was found that the organization spent about $1200 out of 
this increase, on the increased rents alone, because our rent 
expenditures increased about 25% during this period, the 
rent per family having increased 47.4%. fa addition to this 
there was an increase in staff of about 25% so that the 


*Non-Monetary Cases. 


* Non-Regular Cases. 
*See Chart IV. 


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AI LAaVHO 


cost of staff to'the J. S. S. B..in March 1922, was about 
$2500 higher than in March 1920. ‘The increased cost of 
staff and rent more than offset the additional appropriation 
from the Associated, so that no more money was available 
for increased work in March 1922 than in 1920, so far as 
actual appropriation of funds was concerned. 

There were three factors which could account for this 
showing: first, there was a very large decrease in the 
regular or pension cases which are the most costly cases to 
the organization,—a decrease of 41% ;* secondly, there was 
the increase in staff during this same period which made the 
above reduction possible; and thirdly, there was a 15% 
reduction in the budget in January 1922 because of a cor- 
responding decrease in the cost of living at about that time. 

In further analyzing the factors it became obvious that 
the most important single factor which made it possible for 
us to carry this very large increase in work with the small 
increase in expenditures was the saving which we were 
able to effect on the regulars.. We therefore proceeded to 
study the trend of our regulars. Chart V compares the 
trends of the total case count and the régular case count 
during the period. (In calculating the total case count for 
this purpose, we deducted the Bureau of Personal Service 
case count which consisted of non-relief cases, and, in this 
deduction, allowed for the same rate of increase in this group 
of cases as took place in the general case count of the or- 
ganization.) This chart shows quite clearly that whereas 
the general case count was constantly increasing, the 
regulars decreased continuously from about December 1920, 
-when our unit system with the consequent control over the 
regulars was put into operation. 

We here indulged in what, we hope, is a pardonable bit 
of speculation. We calculated the relation of the regular 
and pension cases of the old Relief Department to its total 
case count for the period of January 1918 to October™1920, 
and found that the ratio was about 58, or that out of every 
100 cases in the Relief Department, approximately 58 were 
pension and regular cases,** the remaining 42 being emer- 
gency relief and non-relief cases, or as the latter were then 
called, service cases. Applying this ratio to the case count 
for each month between January 1, 1920 and April 1922, we 


*See Chart IV, page 65. 
**See Chart VI, page 70. 


66 


get what might be called an interpolated regular case count. 
This interpolated case count, when plotted, follows the 
same outline as the total case count for the same period.* 
This, then, might have been the regular case count if we 
had not concentrated on this group of cases. Nor is this an 
unreasonable assumption because it is altogether possible 
that if the old pension method would have prevailed at this 
time, the case workers, working as they did during this 
period under enormous pressure,** would have taken refuge 
behind the device of putting families on the pension list. 
The cost of this probable regular case count was next cal- 
culated on the basis of the average cost per regular, and 
compared with the actual expenditures for this group of 
cases. The saving appeared as about the same in amount 
as was spent on these cases— approximately $240,000.* 
In order to be most conservative we calculated what this 
cost would have been if the regular case count would have 
remained as of December 1, 1920 when the reduction began, 
with the result that even with this extremely conservative 
method of calculation the saving on this group still appears 
as approximately $115,000 between December Ist, 1920, and 
Aprilelstie22 Ss 

While these amounts seem staggering we do not feel 
that they are far from the truth. Although it would have 
_ been very interesting to carry out these calculations until 
January 1925, the entire period covered by this review, we 
felt that there was little need for this labor because Chart 
VI gives some indication of the reduction in regulars which 
took place and also because there are other ways in which 
this saving can be presented. Briefly, these are as follows: 

First. As already indicated, the increase in the number 
of cases was unparalleled in the history of the organization 
and was proportionately greater than in any other similar 
Jewish agency in the country. This increased work was 


*See Chart V. 

**In a study, “The Burden of Unemployment,” by Dr. Philip 
Klein, for the Russell Sage Foundation, during this period, he says: 
“The largest relative increase in the case load of Jewish agencies 
was probably that of the Jewish SocialService Bureau of Chicago. 
The average case load per month, during the period of October to | 
March, inclusive, rose from 725 in 1919-20, to 858 in 1920-21, and~’ 
1,373 in 1921-22. This, despite the fact that the number of families «. 
receiving regular relief decreased from an average per month of 350 
in the calendar year 1920, to 261 in 1921, and 194 in the first four 
months of 1922.” Page 118. 


Arey 


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A LYUVHO 


carried by the organization with a comparatively slight in- 
crease in appropriation from the fiscal agency, an increase 
which was more than used up in the increased cost of staff 
and rise in rents, because of the saving which was effected 
on the regulars. 

Secondly. In 1922 the organization spent approximately 
HI2,000 moresrormealariesthad,cne Ry DD; and the B.F, -s: 
together spent in 1920 besides the large increase in non- 
regular expenditures. This was done on an increase of 
only $52,000 from the Associated which was to compensate 
us for the Home Finding Society widows which we took 
over in January 1922. ‘These cases alone cost the Home 
Finding Society more than $69,000 during the previous 
year, exclusive of overhead. 

Thirdly. In January 1922 we took over from the Jew- 
ish Home Finding Society about 130 cases of widows and 
dependent children, about 100 of which were pensioners. 
Some of these were gradually absorbed by our districts, 
the bulk being carried by a special department in order to 
determine the cost of this piece of work, and were finally 
absorbed by the districts in October 1922. This accounts 
for our rising regular case count during this period, reach- 
ing a peak of 250 cases after it had been down to 193. How- 
ever, continuous effort reduced this count until it becomes 
fairly stationary in the latter part of 1924 at 162 cases.* 
This is a repetition, on a smaller scale of what was accom- 
plished with the pension cases of the Relief Department 
because of the intensive case work. 

Fourthly. During the period of January 1921 and De- 
cember 1924, our average rents per family increased from 
$16.47 to $29.82, an increase of more than 80%. This was 
mainly due to a rise in the rentals and partly to a neces- 
sary rise in standards of housing sought for our clients 
by our workers. The average rent cost per individual in- 
creased in the same period about 95%.**This increase was 
met and is being met with practically no increase from 
the Federation. 

Finally, if the appropriations to the Relief Department, 
the Bureau of Personal Service, and the Jewish Home Find- 
ing Society widows for the years 1920 and 1921 be added, 


*See chart VI. 
me GCharts, -Vil-and* VILE; 


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they will be found to be about $400,000 per year ($405,000 
in 1921). During those years these organizations spent 
between $82,000 and $83,000 on salaries. In 1922 the J. S. 
5. B. doing the same, and in some instances more work, re- 
ceived approximately the same amount of money ($402,000) 
although we spent $114,000 for salaries during that 
year. In 1923, once the staff had an opportunity to get a 
start at its work after the “depression” eased up, we only 
used $357,000 for the same work, although we spent about 
$124,000 for salaries during this year. In other words, in 
1923 the Jewish Social Service Bureau, carrying a much 
larger amount of work than what was carried by the three or- 
ganizations in 1920 and 1921, not only received about $48,000 
less from the Jewish Charities than did the three or- 
ganizations, but spent in addition, about $61,000 more for 
salaries during this same year out of the smaller appropri- 
ation, a saving of almost $110,000 in one year not including 
the enormous rise in rent costs! Even in 1924, when the 
financial work during the latter part of the year was, in 
many respects, heavier even than in 1921, we only received 
$389,000 from the Jewish Charities out of which we spent 
about $143,000 for salaries and about $20,000 for the Indus- 
trial Shops, an actual saving of more than $80,000 during 
the year when compared with 1920 and 1921. 

To summarize. The Jewish Social Service Bureau ts car- 
rying a much larger case count today than the three or- 
ganizations, which the Bureau has absorbed wholly or par- 
tially, have ever carried before. It is doing this on less money 
than these organizations received. It is giving a vastly better 
and more complete service than those organizations ever 
could give because of the division. It has almost doubled its 
staff. It has added a new activity, the Industrial Shops to its 
work, at a cost of about $30,000 per year. It is giving more 
adequate relief, and has a much higher standard for its 
families than ever before—all of this on a smaller appropri- 
ation from the Jewish Charities! The Jewish Community 
.in Chicago has increased in the last few years, but the 
Jewish Charities is unaware of this as far as additional 
costs to it are concerned. Is it necessary to say any more 
to prove that adequate work pays even financially? 

Two questions may be asked by the reader in this con- 
nection: 1. How was all this done, and 2. What would 
have happened if the J. S. S. B. had been unable to effect 


as 


this saving on the regulars. The first question may be an- 
swered very simply—more adequate case work. It was the 
concentration on the problems which we faced that made 
this possible. A larger and better staff, closer supervision, 
more adequate health work, development of other resources 
for families, more adequate control—all of these made their 
contribution toward the results achieved. More of this 
type of work can still be done. The writer holds that 
between $25,000 and $50,000 per year can be saved by the 
Jewish Social Service Bureau in relief, if it had a more ad- 
equate staff in quantity and quality than it now has. The 
saving which would come to the community because of the 
prevention of this amount of dependency cannot be pres- 
ented in figures and must be left to the imagination. 

The second question, i.e., what would have happened if 
the saving in regulars had not been affected cannot be an- 
swered positively. Answers may only be surmised. One 
way out would have been for us to use our endowment 
fund as long as it would have lasted. The writer recalls 
a memorable meeting of the Relief Committee in November 
or December of 1920, when we were faced with a large 
monthly deficit without any visible means to cover it. The 
writer and some “old members of the Board” were dis- 
patched, “post haste,” to the office to consult the old records 
in order to determine whether the endowment funds could 
be used for current expenses. We pleaded at that time for 
patience because we had confidence in the staff and the new 
methods. Fortunately it was found that the endowment 
could not be used for this purpose and the “emergency” 
remained as a spur to the staff. Subsequent results justified 
our prediction and confidence. 

Another “solution” might have been for the Associated 
to have met the increased cost. Other Federations were 
obliged to do likewise during this period and although the 
plea was that no more funds were available we knew then 
and we know now, that it could not and would not have 
declared itself and therefore the Jewish community of Chi-- 
cago as bankrupt. 

Still another solution might have been, and this was 
actually in contemplation during March and April of 1921, 
to shut the doors of the organization to new cases, a method 
which would have been impossible of execution without 
seriously and irreparably injuring not only the J. S. S. B. 


74 


but the entire Associated Jewish Charities, if indeed, the 
staff could have been persuaded to submit to working 
under such conditions. It is not likely that we could have cut 
our standards because during this period they were quite 
low, due to the rise in the cost of living without a corres- 
ponding rise in the standard of relief-giving on our part. 

— Any and all of the above methods might have been used 
if the saving on regulars had not been effected. Our guess 
is, and this guess is not unfounded in experience, that the 
Jewish Charities would have been forced to increase its 
appropriations to the Bureau or the work would have been 
much more inadequate than it was with consequent re- 
actions against the organization which would have made 
collections very much more difficult than they were. For- 
tunately the organization was able not only to save itself 
from embarrassing situations, but has acquired a great 
deal of real community, good-will and backing because. of 
the manner in which it met and continues to meet its 
responsibilities. 

In writing the foregoing statement we endeavored to be 
as conservative as it was possible to be, in dealing with 
this subject. The temptation was ever present to be less 
cautious in order to utilize an unexcelled opportunity to 
emphasize the importance of an adequate staff because of 
the benefits to be derived by the community from good case 
work. A great deal more could have been said about the 
change in the organization from the standpoint of the work 
being done. Starting out as relief department, the Jew- 
ish Social Service Bureau is today a social service agency 
of the broadest possible type. Relief is now only a com- 
paratively small part of our work. Only between 20 and 
30% of our cases require or receive financial assistance. 
This is a result of the shift in emphasis in the organization. 
‘Our aim is to keep families from needing relief by strength- 
ening those elements in them which make for stability and 
independence. We have more children in high schools and 
vocational schools than ever before because we are aware 
that the children can become the greatest influence in 
raising the ambitions and aspirations of the family. We 
spend a great deal of energy on domestic difficulties, al- 
though there may be no financial problems present in those 
families, because we know that unless they are handled 
and adjusted, they will become financial problems because 


75 


of desertion. In like manner does the organization en- 
deavor to give service in numerous other situations not so 
much because it wants to prevent large financial expendi- 
tures but rather because it wants to safeguard the happiness | 
of those whom it is to serve. The staff is aware, as never 
before, of the dangers inherent in relief work. It recog- 
nizes, however, that financial assistance is a necessary 
means for the solution of a great many problems. It aims, 
therefore, to use this means, intelligently, cautiously, and 
with such skill as is possible with our limited knowledge 
at the present time. In order to develop and exercise the 
necessary skill not only in relief giving but in the art of 
aiding people to adjust properly to a complex environment, 
better working conditions are necessary. We believe that 
we have demonstrated the possibilities and value of im- 
proving the existing conditions in social case work. How 
they may be improved will be presented in a succeeding 
section.* 


*See pp. 102-8. Also pp. 184-7. — 
70 


SECTION 4. 


PSYCHIATRIC VS. FAMILY CASE WORK 
The Mental Hygiene Department 


As already indicated, the Mental Hygiene Department 
was one of the Special Departments of the Bureau of Per- 
sonal Service at the time of the reorganization. For some 
time previous to the amalgamation it became clear that it 
was questionable whether this departfnent was properly 
placed in a general case work organization. Its function 
was to work with psychopathic persons. It was the rep- 
resentative of the Bureau in the Psychopathic Hospital, 
interested itself in the Jewish patients which were brought 
into the hospital for observation before commitment to the 
hospitals for the insane, accepted patients on parole from 
the Psychopathic Hospital and the state hospitals, and 
visited the institutions for the insane for the purpose of 
aiding in the adjustment of the Jewish patients there. 

The difficulty was that the functions lodged in the de- 
partment were too difficult for a completely lay personnel 
to handle, (although the supervisor was a trained nurse 
with some psychiatric training). No physician or psychiatrist 
was connected with the department and it seemed advisable 
to have the work supervised or at least guided by a psy- 
chiatrist. Miss Low approached the superintendent of the 
Michael Reese Dispensary for establishing such a depart- 
ment in the dispensary so that the Bureau might discontinue 
this work. It was undertaken in the Bureau only because the 
need for the work existed and there was no one else to do 
it. The negotiations which Miss Low began were continued 
after the reorganization and the dispensary was offered the 
budget granted the Jewish Social Service Bureau for this 
work. An agreement on this was reached, and the de- 
partment was discontinued on May 15th, 1921, some of its 
staff being absorbed in the other departments. When the 
Michael Reese Dispensary established its present Mental 
Hygiene Department in August 1921, the amount available 
for the work in the Jewish Social Service Bureau was trans- 
ferred to it. This was done although most of the work 
formerly done by the Mental Hygiene Department of the 
Bureau of Personal Service was not considered within the 
realm of the dispensary and it accordingly refused to pledge 


77 


itself to carry it on so that the districts in the Jewish Social 

Service Bureau had to undertake the work, and although 
at that time it was necessary to reduce the staff of the 
Jewish Social Service Bureau because the Bureau of Per- 
sonal Service had been exceeding its budget. 

It is interesting to note in this connection that there has. 
never been worked out a complete understanding between 
the Michael Reese Dispensary and the Jewish Social Ser- 
vice Bureau on the relation between the Mental Hygiene 
Clinic and the Jewish Social Service Bureau. This is due 
to a fundamental difficulty inherent in the situation, 1.e., the 
relation between general family case work and the special 
types of case work such as, psychiatric and medical social 
work. Not only is the conflict one of jurisdiction but there 
is a difference in point of view which is much more difficult 
to adjust. 

The family case worker can choose neither the in- 
dividuals nor the groups which she is to handle. Where- 
ever there is maladjustment regardless what its nature or 
cause may be, there she finds her field. Her concern is the 
individual client but she frequently must be much more con- 
cerned with the effect which the client has upon the group: 
than with the client. Accordingly her method is more of a 
group approach. The psychiatric social worker, on the other 
hand, is primarily interested in the patient as an individual, 
and only secondarily in the group, and then only as it in- 
fluences the behavior and progress of the patient. Further- 
more, it may be safely stated that a large proportion of the 
clients of family-care agencies present behavior problems, 
so that the psychiatric,social worker might claim the entire 
field except the out and out relief problems, which she would 
probably think beneath her. This would lead to a separa- 
tion, once more, of relief work as an isolated problem which 
would make for neither good case work, nor would it hold 
really competent persons. Two alternatives are possible: 
The psychiatric social worker as a consultant to the family 
case worker; and the possibility of the psychiatric social 
worker assuming charge of the entire family case work 
problem including relief. 

The first alternative is unacceptable to most family 
case workers because good psychiatric social work is no. 
more than good case work under the guidance of a psy- 
chiatrist. Most family case workers of ability, who take 


78 


their work seriously, who have had the necessary train- 
ing, and who have a professional attitude toward. their 
work, would refuse to recognize the superiority of psy- 
chiatric case work. Indeed, some of them would even re- 
fuse it equal rank with good case work as now understood 
and practiced in family case work agencies. They look 
upon the psychiatric knowledge which psychiatric social 
workers have as a necessary equipment of any case worker 
and most of them proceed to get it if indeed they did not get 
it in their preparation for social work. Some would even 
say that so far as case work technique is concerned, family 
case work is superior to the special types because of its in- 
clusiveness, because of its thoroughness, and because of its 
eclectic point of view. 

The second alternative, viz., the psychiatric case worker 
taking over the responsibility for the entire problem would, 
of course, only result in the psychiatric social worker be- 
coming the family case worker minus the background 
and experience which family case work has accumulated 
and which it has immediately available. There appears no 
way out of the difficulty except to improve the training 
facilities of family case workers and make available to 
them the same kind of guidance from psychiatrists as the 
psychiatric social worker has.* 

The foregoing exposition of the difficulty between special 
types and family case work is included here in order to 
make it clear that it is not wilfulness nor unwillingness 
to get together, that has prevented a clear understanding 
between the Mental Hygiene Department and the Jewish 
Social Service Bureau, in fact the two organizations, from 
the superintendents down, have made a conscientious ef- 
fort to get together. However, although a number of con- 
ferences were held on this subject, no definite policy has 
been worked out and the relationship is somewhat loose 
though entirely friendly. 


*See pp. 191-3 on need of special psychiatric service for J. S. S. 
B. workers. 


79 


SECTION ss: 


BRINGING JUSTICE TO THE POOR 
The Legal Aid Department 


Prior to the merger of January 1921, the Legal Ard 
Department was one of the departments of the Bureau 
of Personal Service. Roughly speaking, the activities before 
the amalgamation* might be divided into two classes: (a) 
Non-Court Service; (b) Court Service. 

The Non-Court Service included all civil matters, such 
as wage and money claims, business difficulties, landlord- 
tenant cases, insurance adjustments, personal injuries, etc. 
It did not include family cases such as divorce, etc. 

Most of the types of cases handled in this service 
yielded to office treatment, although conferences with at- 
torneys, calls on employers, correspondence, etc., were nec- 
essary in their treatment. However, in personal injury 
matters, the entire case treatment was in the hands of the 
Legal Aid worker, except where financial relief was needed. 

The Legal Aid Department was also the intermediary 
between the Bureau of Personal Service, the Relief Depart- 
ment, and the National Desertion Bureau in New York 
City. All cases and correspondence originating in New 
York or in Chicago, in which the National Desertion Bu- 
reau was concerned, were handled by the Legal Aid De- 
partment. 

The Court Service consisted of daily attendance in the 
socialized branches of the Municipal Court system, such as 
the Domestic Relations Branch, Boys Branch, and the 
Maxwell Station Branch. The other branches of the Muni- 
cipal Court system were visited when necessary. Repre- 
sentatives of the Legal Aid Department also visited the 
Circuit and Superior Courts, whenever necessary in cases 
of annulment, divczce, and separate maintenance matters. 
The Non-Support Branch of the County Court, and the 
Probate Court were also covered by the Legal Aid De- 
partment. 

Most of the cases, civil and criminal, were handled in and 
out of court, by the workers themselves. However, where 


*Some of the following is taken from a statement prepared 
by Mrs. S. B. Schaar, Supervisor of the Legal Aid Department. 


80 


it was necessary to have counsel, volunteer help was secured 
from among the attorney friends of the Bureau. 

The personnel of the department consisted at that time 
of the assistant superintendent of the Bureau of Personal, 
Service, who was also the head of the department, one 
worker who devoted her entire time to personal injury 
work, a worker who gave half time to legal aid work'in at- 
tendance at the Maxwell Street Court, and the present 
supervisor of the Legal Aid Department who did the gen- 
eral work of the department. 

In July of 1921 Miss Hattie Rosenstock, Assistant Su- 
perintendent of the Bureau of Personal Service, and super- 
visor of the Legal Aid Department, resigned in order to 
take an extended rest in California. Mrs. Sarah B. Schaar 
was placed in charge and was encouraged to reorganize 
the work of the department in accordance with the general 
plan of developing a strong case work organization with 
the special departments as aids to intensive case work. 

This led to some immediate changes in the department. 
The National Desertion Bureau work was distributed among 
the various districts, with the Legal Aid Department acting 
in an advisory or service capacity where actual legal action 
was required. Personal injury matters were also referred 
to the districts for case work, so that medical attention, in- 
dustrial and social readjustment, and in general all the facili- 
ties of good case work treatment might be available to the 
injured person at the same time that his legal interests 
were being looked after. The emphasis was placed on the 
case work aspects of the situation and responsibility was 
lodged in the case worker for carrying the situation to a 
successful conclusion. The Legal Aid worker served in a 
consulting and advisory capacity thereby strengthening 
the case work by focusing attention on the legal and tech- 
nical aspects of the problem which invariably made for more 
thorough and careful investigation, and more systematic 
and planful treatment which were necessary because of the 
contact with the more formal agencies, such as the Industrial 
Commission, insurance companies, etc. The case worker, 
on the other hand, served as a check on the Legal Aid 
worker so that offers were of necessity more carefully 
considered than they would have been without such check. 
Here, as elsewhere, in the relationship between the Legal 
Aid Department and the general case work departments, 


81 - 


was evident the possible relationship between general and 
special work which makes for strength and better work all 
around. 

A review of the court work under the previous arrange- 
menti led to some changes, most notable of which was the 
withdrawal of the daily worker from the Maxwell Police 
Court.» At the time that daily service in this court was in- 
stituted, all cases now being tried in the specialized 
branches of the Municipal Court system were heard in the 
various District Courts, bringing to the Maxwell branch 
the bulk of Jewish cases requiring social treatment. The 
County Social Service Department was not in existence at 
that time, and has since come into being. With the coming 
of these public social service efforts, we felt that a better 
articulation with the public agencies should be arranged 
for, and the Maxwell Police Court came under review with 
the result that discontinuation seemed advisable. After 
careful study of the implications the Jewish Social Service 
Bureau worker was temporarily withdrawn early in 1922. 
After a period of six months’ observation of the effects of 
this withdrawal, it was made permanent. 

In the latter part of 1922 another change was instituted. 
Until then a worker from another department of the Bureau 
of Personal Service was in regular attendance in the Morals 
branch of the Municipal Court. A review of the cases 
handled there disclosed the fact that there were too few 
Jewish cases coming into the Court, of a type that would 
yield to the treatment which we had to offer, to warrant 
continuance of regular attendance. Arrangements were 
therefore made with the sitting judge and the Court social 
worker, that we be notified when our services are required 
in special cases, and we added this court to those covered 
by the Legal Aid Department. This arrangement resulted 
in the saving of considerable time, without any loss of our 
service to those who are in need of it. 

In February of 1923, a readjustment seemed necessary 
in the County Jail and the Criminal Court service in order 
to make possible the resumption of institutional visiting 
which the Bureau of Personal Service had discontinued 
during the war. The Criminal Court and County Jail were 
therefore added to the round of duties covered by the 
Legal Aid Department, thus releasing the worker there 
for the institutions. Incidentally this rounded out the work 


82 


which the Jewish Social Service Bureau feels called upon 
to do, except the Federal Court work, which is small in 
volume. 

Shortly after the reorganization of the Department, 
arrangements were entered into with the Young, Men’s 
Jewish Charities, whereby that organization created a ,Vol- 
unteer Counsel Committee, so that necessary legal service 
could be more easily and systematically secured. In all 
cases where counsel is required, the Legal Aid Department 
refers the matters to the chairman of the committee, and he 
assigns the cases for treatment. The legal aid worker is in 
continuous touch with such counsel until the case is closed. 
There is also an advisory group in connection with this 
committee, upon which we call for advice in special classes 
of cases, such as insurance matters, probate cases, etc., 
regardless of whether or not court service is needed. This 
arrangement meets a peculiar need of the Legal Aid De- 
partment, viz.: there is not sufficient civil legal aid work 
in the department to hold the attention of a worker es- 
pecially interested in obtaining legal experience, never- 
theless such civil work as comes to the Bureau must be 
done and requires legal training. 

The problem which this phase of our work presents is 
much more complicated than appears on the surface. It 
has its origin in the aims of the Jewish Social Service 
Bureau as a social service organization in general, and the 
function of the Legal Aid Department in particular. Those 
who have given thought to the problem of the administra- 
tion of justice with particular reference to the poor, agree 
that the machinery of justice is so complicated and so 
costly as to practically preclude the possibility of the 
person of average means having an “even chance in court.” 
Some of the most advanced thinkers in the legal profes- 
sion are striking out boldly at a simplification of our entire 
legal structure in order to make justice more easily obtain- 
able. The legal aid societies which are being organized 
in practically every city in the country represent another 
attempt at bringing justice to the poor. Legal aid soci- 
eties are usually of two types: those which conceive it as 
their function to provide legal advice and assistance for the 
poor; and those who in addition to the above function are 
aiming at influencing the courts and their procedure in 
their respective communities. Usually the latter type is 


83 


either controlled by a socially minded board of directors, 
or the work is done by persons who have a social approach 
to, the problem, or better still, the legal aid bureau itself 
is part of a social service organization so that its approach 
is Of necessity a social service approach. 

The, Legal Aid Department of the Jewish Social Service 
Bureau is this type of an organization and its viewpoint is, 
quite frankly, that of a social agency. This is not by accident 
but by design. Miss Low, in organizing the Legal Aid De- 
partment, had in mind the legal aid which it would give to 
the poor, but she was also thinking no doubt, of the influence 
which a department of this kind could exercise on the court 
procedure especially in the socialized courts. That this is 
precisely what happened, anyone would admit who is at all 
familiar with the influence which she exercised on the 
courts of the city. As soon as the writer found the time to 
study the Legal Aid Department, its work and relation to 
the larger organization and the community as a whole, the 
possibilities of this conception of its role and function 
seemed of such importance that it became the guiding 
principle in the organization and the administration of the 
department. 

Soon after the amalgamation, when the personnel of 
the department changed, the question arose as to whether 
persons of legal training should be engaged to fill the 
positions—Miss Low refused to employ attorneys on prin- 
ciple—or whether the positions should be filled by social 
workers who had either the adaptability for, or experience 
in the type of contacts and work which legal aid, particu- 
larly court attendance, requires. Fortunately there was 
available the present supervisor, who, although not a 
trained attorney, had, nevertheless, a number of years of 
legal aid and court experience in the Bureau of Personal 
Service, and has a peculiar ability along legal lines in addi- 
tion to a broad conception of social work. She was offered 
and accepted the supervisorship of the department. Her 
rich legal aid experience provided the organization with 
excellent service during the transition period. 

The problem was still unsolved, however, so far as the 
assistants in the department were concerned. It seemed 
advisable that we have at least one or two trained lawyers 
on our staff in this department to do such civil work as came 
to the department. Three factors complicated the situation: 


84 


first was the fact that the Bureau could not afford to engage 
the services of an experienced full time, capable attorney, so 
that its choice of personnel was necessarily limited either to 
part time service or to inexperienced people. Either alter- 
native would make for inferior service to the client.) Sec- 
ondly, it was quite evident that if trained and licensed at- 
torneys were to do the court work of the organization they 
would prefer to be known as attorneys and argue their 
cases on the basis of the legal elements involved rather than 
on a humane and equity basis if such a distinction will be | 
pardoned. This would threaten the loss of all that had been 
accomplished, especially in the socialized courts in which 
most judges have been disposed to deviate from the strictly 
technical and legal interpretation of the problems which 
come before them; a practice eminently worthwhile and 
largely due to the promptings and encouragement which 
came to the courts from the social agencies. Thirdly, was 
the possibility of the legal aid department acting in an 
educational capacity by drawing in some of the younger 
Jewish attorneys to handle its problems thereby getting 
them to think of situations in the broad and all inclusive 
manner of cause and effect relationship so essentially a 
part of all social service work. 

Although the above analysis was the result of a priori 
reasoning, subsequent experience demonstrated its sound- 
ness and we decided to be guided by the broader conception 
of the function of the organization and the department. 
Accordingly, as previously stated, arrangements were made 
with the Young Men’s Jewish Charities which appointed a 
legal committee called the Volunteer Counsel Committee 
for the purpose of handling such legal problems as were 
presented to it by the Legal Aid Department of the Jewish 
Social Service Bureau. This committee consists of from 
fifteen to twenty of some of the very best of the younger 
Jewish attorneys of our city. All cases presented to this 
Committee are assigned to the members by the Committee 
Chairman and the cases have always been handled with the 
greatest amount of courtesy and effectiveness. All neces- 
sary investigations and other work in preparing the cases 
for court are done by the Bureau, either by the Legal Aid 
Department or the case work department which has juris- 
diction in the particular case, under the supervision of the 
Legal Aid Department. : 


85 


While the department usually has one or two attorneys 
on its staff, they are invariably engaged not as attorneys 
but as social workers and they are known as such in the 
courts. This arrangement has thus far proved to be to 
the \best interests of the clients, the Bureau, and the com- 
munity,| The writer believes, however, that this problem 
could not have been solved in this manner if we had not 
had the whole-hearted cooperation of the Young Men’s 
Jewish Charities. In the writer’s opinion, enthusiastically 
concurred in, by the supervisor and staff of the Legal Aid 
Department, the Jewish Social Service Bureau is indebted 
to the Volunteer Counsel Committee of the Young Men’s 
Jewish Charities for a great deal of service in the past few 
years, always quickly, intelligently, and cheerfully ren- 
dered. It is our hope that we may have been of some slight 
service in bringing to them a broader conception of the 
function, possibilities, and relation of the lawyer to his 
client. 

It may be helpful to review briefly the field of work 
covered by the Legal Aid Department at the present time.’ 
The Department covers the following courts: 

Domestic Relations Court: In this court are concentrated 
all criminal charges of non-support, sex cases involving 
young children, and most of the bastardy cases tried in 
Chicago. There is a social service department in connec- 
tion with the court, but its work has not been developed 
to the extent desirable in this group of cases. This court 
represents the largest single court item handled by the 
department, one of the workers of the department being 
in daily attendance at the court. 

The Boys Court: This branch hears all cases of boys 
between the ages of 17 and 21, tried in the Municipal Court. 
A court social service effort, begun when the court was 
established more than ten years ago, has never been de- 
veloped. Such social work as is done, is divided between 
the religious groups, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. Our 
worker is in daily attendance because of the great import- 
ance of this age group in crime., We feel that greater 
effort should be made by the social agencies of the city to 
secure an adequate social service department for this court. 
When one bears in mind the recent developments in pro- 
bation work in the Juvenile Courts throughout the coun- 
try, and how this work has humanized and improved the 


86 


treatment by the court of the young offender it appears 
illogical, socially wasteful, and tragic that greater efforts 
are not being made to study and guide the boys coming 
before this court in a more adequate and effective manner 
than is now the case. 

The Morals Court: Our arrangement with the sitting 
Judges of this branch are such that we are called in for 
service in cases of young offenders or cases involving 
children. Jewish cases are relatively few in this court, and 
there is no need for daily attendance. 

County Jail and Criminal Court: The entrance card of 
every Jewish prisoner passing through the County Jail is 
reviewed by the legal aid worker, and made the first basis 
for further service. Only a very small portion of those 
passing through the Jail ultimately require the help of the 
worker at the court hearing. However, service is given in 
all cases where careful investigation determines the ad- 
visability of such help. 

Civil Courts in Circuit, Superior, Probate, and Municipal 
Court Systems, Industrial Commissions, etc.: Appearances 
here are only on special matters brought to the attention 
of the Legal Aid Department, either by the districts or 
directly by the clients. 

As already indicated, the Legal Aid Department, in com- 
mon with other departments of the Jewish Social Service 
Bureau, is primarily interested in the social implications of 
the problems coming before it. Appearances in court are 
largely for the purpose of bringing the social significance and 
implications of a case before the court. For this reason, 
no process obtains in court, (emergencies excepted) in 
cases of family difficulties, criminal matters, landlord-ten- 
ant difficulties, etc., without investigation by the case-work- 
ing districts. This has led, we feel, to a more intelligent 
treatment of the cases by the courts, and to the further 
development of confidence on the part of the courts in our 
organization. In 1923, about two-thirds, (584 out of 880) 
of the cases handled by the Legal Aid Department, were 
handled jointly with the districts. 

The articulation between the districts and the Legal 
Aid Department is excellent. There is a complete under- 
standing on mutual and joint problems, and a most help- 
ful co-working relationship exists. Because of its acquaint- 
ance with the difficult family problems in all the districts, 


87 


the Department is frequently called into consultation on 
matters having no immediate legal implications. The De- 
partment is definitely one part of a comprehensive case- 
working plan. 

The Legal Aid Department represents all the agencies 
in the Jewish Charities, in the socialized courts. This ar- 
rangement is very desirable because it not only makes for 
uniformity in standards of investigation and preparation of 
court cases on the part of the Jewish agencies, but it makes 
available to all the organizations the benefits of the stand- 
ing and good will which the Bureau of Personal Service and 
the Jewish Social Service Bureau have acquired in the 
various courts in the judicial system of the city. 

The Jewish Social Service Bureau has representation 
through the supervisor of the department on the Legislative 
Committee of the Chicago Council of Social Agencies, the 
Joint Citizens and Judges Committee of the Municipal 
Court for purposes of developing the social service depart- 
ments in the socialized courts, and the Boys Court Com- 
mittee. From time to time problems arise in the courts, 
jail, etc., to which the Department is asked to contribute, out 
of its experience, in common with the other social agencies 
in the community. 


88 


EE LOVING 6. 


BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AMONG GIRLS 
The Girls’ Department 


The Girls’ Department*was one of the very important 
special departments of the Bureau of Personal Service. At 
the time of the amalgamation this department did all the 
work with Jewish girls and very young boys who presented 
behavior problems before, during and after the Juvenile 
‘Court was resorted to for purposes of control. It was the 
representative, in the Juvenile Court, of the entire organi- 
zation and the other Jewish organizations of the Jewish 
Charities which had occasion to resort to Juvenile Court 
procedure, such as the Jewish Home Finding Society, the 
Orphans’ Homes, etc. 

At the time cf the amalgamation the department con- 
sisted of a supervisor and two workers, but the case count 
was too large to make intensive work possible. The staff 
‘was increased and the case count was reduced so that 
specially intensive work could be undertaken. 

It may be helpful to state here the principle underlying 
the establishment and retention of the department as a 
part of the Bureau: of Personal Service, and later, of the 
Jewish Social Service Bureau. 

The various branches of work in the Bureau of Per- . 
sonal Service were established in response to the need for 
that service in the community as these needs made them- 
selves felt. Miss Low perceived the need for care and 
guidance of the delinquent and “predelinquent” adolescent 
boy and girl. (The Juvenile Court itself had been organ- 
ized only shortly before she established the Juvenile Depart- 
ment in her organization). There were two main reasons 
for this: first, was the inadequate probation staff of the 
Juvenile Court because the public had not yet been 
awakened to the need for special care of the adolescent who 
finds it difficult to adjust himself to a. complex social order 
of manifold temptations; and secondly, the attitude of 
Jewish people, particularly parents, toward delinquent girls, 
especially sex delinquents. Miss Low recognized these 
attitudes and knew that no efforts were too great to save 
girls from delinquency because of the stigma attaching to 
them and also because the Jewish people are very hard on 


89 


their delinquents so that ostracism is not infrequently the | 
punishment for infractions of the moral code. Accordingly 
the Juvenile Department aimed at guiding and correcting 
young girls and boys who were considered problems at home 
or in the community. The Juvenile Court was glad to have 
the cooperation of the Bureau of Personal Service because it 
frankly recognized and admitted the handicaps under which 
it was working in the early days, and also because it felt 
that its workers did not possess the necessary background 
to handle these problems adequately. Gradually, however, 
as the public became more intelligent regarding the needs 
for an adequate probationary staff, and as the quality of 
the staff improved, there seemed less reason for a private 
agency doing the work which is the proper function of a 
public agency. It was recognized by the administrative 
officers of the Probation Department of the Juvenile Court 
and the Bureau that the co-working relationship existing 
between the two organizations required rethinking and 
modification so as to be in line with the more modern view- 
point of the relation of private to public social work. For- 
tunately the high type of work done by the Probation De- 
partment made a change possible. 

Various arrangements were considered and tried. The 
arrangement which was finally adopted as workable (1924) 
is as follows: The Jewish Social Service Bureau is to handle 
all behavior problems of Jewish girls coming to the at- 
tention of the Juvenile Court unless the complainant in- 
sists that the court officers handle the situation after it is 
explained to him that the Jewish Social Service Bureau is 
prepared to give special attention to the problem and that 
it is working in very close cooperation with the Juvenile 
Court. The Jewish Social Service Bureau endeavors to 
adjust the situations and continues to handle them until 
they are solved or until such time as court action seems 
desirable, when it refers the matter to the Court for action, 
giving the Court a detailed history of the difficulty and con- 
tact. If after investigation the girl is taken into Court, the 
Jewish Social Service Bureau .ceases its contact and the 
problem is handled entirely by the Juvenile Court. When- 
ever advisable the Jewish Social Service Bureau stands 
ready to follow up girls who are released from probation 
on recommendation of the probation officer. 

This new agreement, it is felt, is more logical than the 


90 


former relationship and is consistent with current practices 
because it takes advantage of the strengths of both organi- 
zations. It gives the Juvenile Court complete jurisdiction 
over the girls who become its charges so that direct and 
effective control can be exercised by the public agency 
created for this purpose. On the other hand, it makes 
possible the Jewish Social Service Bureau using its facili- 
ties in those cases in which it can be of maximum value to 
the young offender. Because of the flexibility of its or- 
ganization, and because of the reduced case count—the court 
cases being handled by the Juvenile Court officers—it can 
bring its maximum strength to bear upon such situations 
as are most hopeful and offer the best opportunities for 
preventive work. 

It should be pointed out that the type of girl now 
handled by the Girls’ Department would most likely not be 
handled by the Juvenile Court for any considerable length 
of time without her being taken into Court. Although the 
probation department handles some children without taking 
them before the Court, the number of such cases is neces- 
sarily limited by the enormous problem which it faces and 
it can give these cases neither the attention nor the time 
which they require. While it is fully recognized that these 
cases are the most promising ones from the standpoint of 
preventive work, and while the officers of the Court, from 
the Judges and the Chief Probation Officer down, are eager 
to handle this type of problem, they are nevertheless pre- 
vented from so doing by the limited staff which the County 
Board has granted the Juvenile Court. The Jewish Social 
Service Bureau fortunately is able to supplement the work 
of the Court in this respect and in this way its effective in 
saving scores of girls from having a Juvenile Court record. 

During the last two or three years every effort has been 
made to improve upon and intensify the case work of the 
Girls’ Department. The constantly rising standards of case 
work in the general departments of the Jewish Social Ser- 
vice Bureau naturally affected the special department. A 
special set of problems and definitions was worked out for 
the Girls’ Department and the Boys’ Department because 
these two departments face the same type of situations. This 
list was modified in 1924 and consists of 40 problems with 
carefully worked out definitions. In general the problems 
in the special departments are used in the same way as in 


91 


the general case work departments, except that the special 
department problems* are divided into three groups: A. 
Behavior Disorders; B. Environmental Factors; and C. Per- 
sonality Factors. By a carefully worked out scheme of 
flagging these problems are flagged on the visible index 
card,** it is possible for the visitor, supervisor, case con- 
sultant, or any other interested person to see at a glance. 
not only the kind of disorder which the boy or girl presents 
but also the probable factors of which the particular dis- 
order is a result, at least so far as careful analysis with the 
present limited knowledge of human behavior can establish 
the relationship between cause and effect. 

Inadequate as the above account is as far as giving a 
real picture of the thought and effort which were ‘spent in 
the attempt to build up a strong and effective department, 
it would be even more inadequate if we failed to record 
a very interesting and very troublesome problem with res- 
pect to the relationship between special and general case 
work departments. 

As mentioned elsewhere,f thee is apparent a different 
method of approach to the case work problems on the part 
of the family case worker and the special case worker. This 
difference might be briefly stated as the group approach 
vs. the individual approach as used by the family case work- 
ers and the special workers respectively, and the respect 
for and use of the routine investigation by the family case 
worker which is not always shared by the special workers. 
As already pointed out the different approach is due to a 
different point of view either because of a particularistic 
type of training or experience. It frequently results in the 
failure, on the part of the special worker, to recognize what 
might be termed the marginal problems which are presented 
by the individual or the family resulting from group life 
and interaction. While this failure may be ascribed to poor 
case work, it must be recognized as existent whatever the 
cause may be. The family case worker, coming in contact 
with situations handled by special workers is quick to 
notice the mistakes due to this kind of individual treatment. 
Chafing as she does from an “inferiority complex” because 
she knows herself to be looked down upon as a “relief 


*See list of problems and definitions, pp. 203, 206 and 209. 
**See page 49. 
+Cf. Mental Hygiene Department, page 78 ff. 


92 


worker,’* she makes capital of the errors which she recog- 
nizes, as a form of “compensation.” ‘The result is that she 
loses all respect for the “specialist”? and insists that she 
could do as well or better in those situations, than did the 
specialist. The writer was frequently placed in a very em- 
barrassing position when endeavoring to justify the exist- 
ence of special departments before the general case work- 
ers and supervisors. They insisted that if they were given 
a small case count, so that they could have the time for 
concentration which the special departments had, they 
could do better work than the special departments because 
they have the “family point of view.” It was generally 
admitted that problem boys, need special workers because 
it is difficult for women case workers to establish the rap- 
port with male delinquents necessary for effective work. But 
it was just as generally argued that girl delinquents did not 
require special workers. It was not easy to combat this 
attitude nor was it easy to meet the argument because it 
raises an issue which has not yet been satisfactorily set- 
tled by case work agencies. This issue is concerned with 
the relation between special and general case workers. 


Broadly speaking, there are three methods of correlating 
work of general and special case workers: one is to place 
the special worker in a general case work department under 
the direction of the general supervisor with the function of 
carrying the specially difficult problems either as her sole 
responsibility or jointly with the case worker; the second 
method, is to have the special work done in a special de- 
partment under a special supervisor, some cases being 
handled as sole and others as joint responsibility; and the 
third method, is to have all types of work done by the gen- 
eral case worker under the supervision of the general super- 
visor, there being available to both visitor and supervisor 
the advice and guidance of a specialist on the special 
problems. : 


Each of these methods of organization has its advan- 
tages and disadvantages. After careful consideration of all 
the factors involved, it seemed to the writer that the sec- 
ond method is most promising of success provided that the 
special workers have at least the same equipment in terms 
of training and experience as the general case workers. Un- 


*Cf. page 43 ff. 
93 


fortunately this was not possible until recently. The worker 
who has had good professional preparation, several years 
of family case work experience, and special training in the 
treatment of behavior problems is either not available or is 
so conscious of her worth that she will consider only ex- 
ecutive positions. The organization had little choice in the 
matter, and was obliged to make the best of the situation 
by placing in the special departments such persons as had 
an interest in the special problems and were willing to handle 
them. cs 

It was apparent, however, that the lack of family case 
work experience and approach could not be compensated 
for. It was decided therefore, to place some of the newer, 
better trained workers in the special departments after they 
acquired several years of family case work experience. 
While the supervisors are inclined to resent the removal 
of their best workers after they acquire facility in the work 
so that they can be really helpful, a broader outlook on 
their functions will eventually convince them that they 
must look upon themselves as teachers who are constantly 
taking raw material and work with it only to give it up 
on the acquisition of the skill to be imparted. Certain it is 
that during the next few years this will be the most effective 
method of supplying the field with trained and experienced 
people. The larger agencies and cities will have to con- 
ceive it to be their function to train workers for the: smaller 
agencies and the smaller cities, and the family case work 
agencies will have to accept it as their duty and obligation, 
if not their privilege, to train case workers for the special 
fields of case work. It may not be amiss to point out that 
the family case work supervisors have here a real opportu- 
nity not only to make a genuine contribution to the entire 
field of social case work, but also to raise the status of 
family case work by a willingness to make available their 
methods and technique through training people who may 
enter other types of case work. 

At the present time the Girls’ Department* consists of 
a supervisor, three visitors and a stenographer. All of the 


*The name was changed from the Juvenile Department in order 
to be more consistent with the type of work done after the re- 
organization of the department in 1923. 


94 


workers in the department have had good academic train- 
ing, and all of them have had some family case work ex- 
perience. The case load has been considerably reduced, 
and every effort is being made to do as good case work as 
can be done under present conditions. 


95 


SECTION 7. 


THE PROBLEM OF CASE WORK WITH BOYS 
The Boys’ Department 


In many respects the Boys’ Department represents a 
unique and most difficult problem. As already indicated 
it was one of the special departments of the Bureau of 
Personal Service. Its origin was due to the same factors 
as gave rise to the Girls’ Department.* It, like the other 
special departments in the Bureau, was an attempt to 
handle a problem which Miss Low recognized as needing 
attention. However, despite years of thought and effort 
which she expended on this particular phase of the work, 
she did not succeed in developing it to any considerable 
extent. Nor can we say that we succeeded where she failed. 
After about two years of the most careful attention which 
we could give to the problem, we cannot say that this piece 
of work was developed to any point comparable with the 
development in any of the other departments. We did 
succeed, however, in analyzing the problem and isolating 
the factors which have been responsible for our failure thus 
far. These we shall enumerate and discuss here very briefly 
in the hope that a frank statement of the situation will be 
helpful to our own organization and to other organizations 
which are facing a similar problem. 

In the fall of 1921, when we could turn our attention 
from the task of reorganization which we faced earlier in 
the year, to the consideration of the efficacy of the work 
which the various departments were doing, the Boys’ De-. 
partment came in for its share of study. At that time the 
department consisted of a supervisor, four full or part 
time assistants and a part time worker who handled the 
transients and homeless men. A study of some of the 
records in the department indicated that the case work was 
not of the highest and most intensive type. The depart- 
ment was carrying between three and four hundred cases of 
delinquent and “pre-delinquent” boys, some of whom had 
_ Juvenile Court records of long standing, the prognosis be- 
ing unfavorable. The department was also doing its own 
Juvenile Court work and the workers were handling the boys 
who were taken into Court and who were turned over to 


*See page 89. 
96 


them for probation. It was evident that no effective case 
work could be hoped for with as large a case count, es- 
pecially since most of the workers gave only approximately 
half of their time to the work. Since no more funds were 
available for more workers, (the Bureau of Personal Service 
had been accumulating an overdraft and a reduction of staff 
was necessary during the reorganization year) obviously 
the only thing that could be done was to reduce the case 
count substantially. This was done about the end of the 
year after the supervisor and the writer carefully reviewed 
the types of problems handled. 


It was also recognized, earlier in the year, that part 
time work was not conducive to intensive case work be- 
cause the workers, at best, had divided interests and loyalty. 
They were frequently forced to absent themselves from 
their work when continuity of treatment was essential, and 
they lacked the professional interest and pride in their 
work which are necessary and essential elements especially 
in case work. The workers in the department were students 
who were using this as a means to carry them through their 
college or university work without any intention of remain- 
ing at it any longer than was absolutely necessary. Ac- 
cordingly, the staff was gradually replaced with full time 
workers so that we thought we had a right to claim their 
full and undivided attention. The work within the de- 
partment was also reorganized, methods of control were 
introduced, the visible index, elsewhere described,* was in- 
stituted, and the workers were encouraged to view their 
work in its larger relationship to the rest of the organiza- 
tion and the community. 


After about six months the work was again reviewed, 
more or less superficially, by the writer. The result of this 
review was not encouraging. While the work was better 
and more systematic than it had been, it lacked a good 
many of the essential characteristics of good case work. 
Various attempts were made to raise the standards of work 
in the department but without the success which attended 
the same efforts in the other departments in the Jewish 
Social Service Bureau. It was finally decided to make a 
careful study of the work and accomplishments of the de- 
partment. In order for this study to be as objective as pos- 


*See page 49. 
97 


sible, an outside person was called in so that none of the 
biases either pro or con the department which a member 
of the staff of the Bureau would have been subject to, 
could obtain. Fortunately we were able to secure Erle F. 
Young, a member of the faculty of the University of Chi- 
cago, to undertake to make the study. 


The study was begun in the late fall of 1922. An out- 
line for the study of each of the cases to be reviewed was 
carefully prepared, under the direction and guidance of 
the writer. With the assistance of a reader, 78 cases were 
carefully read and the work on them was evaluated. The 
results were embodied in a series of case reviews which 
were completed and summarized about the middle of 1923. 
These summaries showed that the case work of the Boys’ 
Department was by no means comparable to the work 
of the rest of the organization, especially the case work 
districts; that while it compared, perhaps even favorably, 
with similar work done in other organizations, it lacked 
some of the most essential elements of good case work. The 
individual case reviews were presented to the workers and 
the supervisor of the department. Although they felt that 
the standards of case work held up in the study and against 
which the work of the department was judged, were too 
high, they admitted that the findings were fair and that the 
entire study was impartially and objectively executed. On 
the whole, the study was eminently worth while because 
not only did it focus the attention of the department and 
the entire organization on weaknesses which required cor- 
rection, but it presented a method of analysis and evalua- 
tion which seems promising for future case-work studies. 


The study of the Boys’ Department, besides aiming at a 
critical evaluation of the ease work done on the individual 
cases as revealed by the case records, also aimed at evalu- 
ating the potentialities of the problem-method of analysis 
of case records as made possible by the list of specific 
problems and the visible index. As mentioned elsewhere,* 
the visible index was conceived of as a tool for the purpose 
of analyzing and recording the complex of case work sit- 
uations into simpler terms. Another aim, perhaps less 
immediate but certainly more important, was the study and 
discovery, if possible, of the nexus between problems, and 


*See page 51 ff. 


98 


the amount of control over case work procedure which this 
treatment might make possible. The Boys’ Department 
study offered the first opportunity to study this subject 
since the introduction of the new method, and an attempt 
was made to treat the material accumulated in the study 
statistically. This treatment was quite apart from the case 
reviews and was undertaken by Mr. Young as a research 
project with the help and guidance of the writer, without 
any preconceived notions as to what the results should or 
would be. No definite plan for its treatment was formulated 
because we wanted to be free to follow out such leads as 
would be suggested by the material itself. . The results 
and findings of this “adventure” were embodied in a typed 
statement of about one hundred pages of text and numer- 
ous tables which are very suggestive for further study. 
The number of cases studied and the number of prob- 
lems treated were too small to be at all valuable for the 
purpose of drawing conclusions on which to base admini- 
strative or case work procedure, and no attempt was made 
to utilize the findings for such purposes. However, in 
several instances the facts which were brought to light 
seemed to challenge our procedure and its basis from a 
rather fundamental point of view. Thus it was found that 
certain problems tend to associate with certain other prob- 
lems so that there seems to be “problem patterns.” If this 
fact could be definitely established and the incidence of 
certain problems and their relation to others were ascer- 
tained, the social worker would be able to predict and there- 
fore work toward the control of the course of a particular 
type of maladjustment. Another rather important item 
which was brought to light by the study was the fact that 
most of the boys handled by the department are between 
the years of 15 and 17. This raises the question whether 
the difficulties handled by the department are not due to the 
problem of adolescence complicated by the cultural dif- 
ferences between them and their parents so that adjustment 
might take place whether the department were active or not. 
Before this question can be definitely answered a great deal 
more research work along these lines must be done. Another 
very interesting item was the correlation of problems pre- 
sented with the intelligence of the boys as indicated by in- 
telligence quotients. It was definitely shown that boys of 
lower intelligence quotients present more and a different 


99 


type of problems than do boys of adequate intelligence. 

Perhaps the most important single conclusion which 
seems indicated by the study, was the fact that if adjust- 
ment does not take place in the first fifteen months of con- 
tact with the agency, it is extremely unlikely that any ad- 
justment will take place at all. A study of the relation 
between problems adjusted and the period of their activity 
shows that 85% of the problems adjusted were solved in 
the first fifteen months of their activity.* If this could be 
established on the basis of a large number of cases, it might 
indicate the need for a complete revision of our methods 
and controls in work of this kind for it is manifestly a waste 
of time to handle problems longer than fifteen months when 
they might be said to become chronic and hopeless. Also, 
the efforts of the workers should be concentrated in the 
early months when the situation is new and offers the best 
possibilities for solution. 

Other, similar findings, are very suggestive and the 
study seems highly significant from the standpoint of the 
possibilities which this kind of treatment holds for the 
development of a scientific basis for social case work. Such 
social workers and teachers of sociology as have seen the 
study have been very enthusiastic and encouraging in 
speaking of it as an extremely significant method. The 
larger study undertaken and already referred to,** has 
been made possible because Mr. F. W. Laune, Director 
of the Wieboldt Foundation, saw the results of the first 
study and felt that its findings and method were worthy 
of further development. We hope that the results of this 
larger study may be ready for publication some time in 
1925. | 

Since the completion of Boys’ Department study, many 
and various attempts have been made to correct the defects 
in the work, but we cannot say that we have thus far suc- 
ceeded to any very great extent although the staff of the 
department is itself anxious for the improvement. Due to 
the stimulation of the study and interviews with past and 
present members of the staff as well as with executives and 
young men engaged in social work in other agencies and 
other fields, we are now informed as to the causes and factors 
responsible for the inadequate work as we never were be- 


“Cabie a, 
**Page 52. 


100 


TABLE 5 
TABLE SHOWING LENGTH OF TIME CERTAIN PROBLEMS 


101 


Number of months under treatment* 
| 1 


OR IMPROVEMENT IN STATUS OF PROBLEM 


* To be read: 3 but less than 6; 6 but less than 9, and so on. 


HAVE BEEN UNDER TREATMENT WITH ADJUSTMENT 


Problem 
Number 
1 
2 
6 
7 
9 
10 
14 
15 
1 
Z 
a 
of total 


fore. All of the factors may be summarized in one phrase— 
adequate personnel. In this one phrase lies the key to 
effective work. We believe it to be worth while to present 
the problem at this point in greater detail, because it forms 
an important part of the whole problem of the future of 
social work and its effectiveness in the field of adjustment 
of human relations which must be its raison-d’etre. 
Executives and administrators of case work agencies 
have long since recognized the relation between adequate 
personnel and good work. As an evidence of this may be 
cited the ever increasing number of professional schools 
which offer courses of varying length and intensity in the 
preparation for social work. Unfortunately the public is 
not yet cognizant of. this need. Nor is it aware of the tre- 
mendous costs, in terms of human suffering and degradation 
which inadequate social work, inadequate in quality or 
quantity or both, is responsible for. The public is still 
willing to permit untrained and occasionally even unintel- 
ligent people to handle the most difficult problems in human 
relationships. The same people who would be horrified at 
the thought of an untrained person ministering to the 
physical suffering of humans, the same persons who expect . 
that lawyers, ministers, and teachers, be trained for the 
performance of their respective tasks, these same persons 
are unaware that special skill and knowledge are required 
in the handling of the delicate, intimate, and exceedingly 
complex human problems which. the social worker is called 
upon to deal with. Here are problems between husband 
and wife, between parent and child, between the individual 
and his group, between the individual and society, problems 
in relationships and interactions which require the keenest 
insight, the most intelligent and sympathetic appreciation 
of the causes which gave rise to them and the far reaching 
effect which they may have on the persons involved. Never- 
theless, an otherwise most intelligent and enlightened pub- 
lic is willing to have unskilled hands play upon these 
delicate instruments without giving one thought to the 
cacophony which is produced, or to the ruination of the 
instruments themselves. We place this responsibility at 
the intelligent public’s door because it is usually the in- 
telligent people of a community that concern themselves 
with these efforts, and also because it has been unwilling 
to recognize the problem and. its implications by failing 


102 


to make provision for the maintenance of adequately trained 
personnel. 

In Sveneraly ig mayer oe said that -there are three 
aspects to this problem: 1. Education and professional 
preparation for social work; 2. Adequate remuneration; 
3. Professional status of the social worker. 

A fair degree of progress has been made in the last 
few years with regard to training for social work. There 
are now more than twenty professional schools giving 
eraduate and undergraduate courses in the preparation for 
social work. In general, progress in this respect must wait 
on developments in the social sciences, because only to the 
degree that we develop a science of human behavior can 
social work have anything like what medicine has now— 
a body of fairly accurate and transmittable material for 
the purpose of teaching. Much less progress has been made 
on the other two aspects of this problem. Salaries of so- 
cial workers, particularly in the subordinate positions, are 
by no means what they should be when the amount of neces- 
sary preparation and study are borne in mind. 

Various comparisons have been made between social 
work and the other professions, such as the medicine, law, 
teaching, and the ministry. In our judgment social work 
cannot be compared with any of these _ professions. 
The physician, to be sure, has a longer course of study 
and has a longer period of probation and internship. How- 
ever, his work has but little of the wear and tear which 
social work imposes. In addition to this, his earnings, after 
the first few years, are very much higher than those of 
even the very best paid social workers who have had, not 
infrequently, an equally good training, and a much longer 
period of internship and privation than most physicians. 
The physician is also “his own boss,” is working for him- 
self, builds his own practice, and thereby provides for his 
future, sovthat hevis certain of independence in later lite. 
But above all, he does not depend upon the good will of 
boards of directors. The same is true of the lawyer. He 
too is independent, is building his own future and has a 
very much higher income than has the social worker of 
equal ability and training. 

The minister, too, usually earns a much better salary, 
once he is thoroughly established and accepted, than does 
the social worker of equal experience in his own field. Be- 


103 


sides his salary, the minister usually has a considerable 
income from other sources, such as officiating at various 
functions. Only in his dependence on the good will of 
others, does the minister’s position compare to that of the 
social worker. On the other hand, one frequently hears of 
a minister being elected for life after remaining with his 
congregation for a long time. No such thing ever happens 
to the social worker, although he, too, is usually dis- 
qualified from entering into the ordinary industrial pur- 
suits after having engaged in social work for a long time 
because of the habits of thought which he acquires in 
social work. ‘True that a good many social workers have 
left social work and entered into other fields, where they 
have met with phenomenal success. But their very action 
is the greatest indictment of the treatment which the 
social worker receives at the hands of communities at 
the present time,* because it has taken from the field of 
Jewish social service some outstanding personalities and 
has served to discourage other, younger workers, of equal 
promise, because of the experiences of the older, more 
prominent and perhaps wiser social workers. 


The teachers, especially the graded and high school 
teachers, have a salary schedule not much higher than the 
social workers, and are doing a work which is a severe ner- 
vous and mental strain, especially if they are conscientious 
in the performance of their duties. But even they are better 
off because of the shorter hours of strenuous work—the 
actual teaching time—and the long vacations which they 
have in the summer as well as the rest periods which they 
have during the spring and Christmas vacations. Their 
tenure of office is much more secure than that of the social 
worker, they becoming more valuable and more certain of 
their positions with each teaching year. 


When it comes to comparing the social worker to the 
college professor, the positions are not at all similar. While 
the college professor’s salary is small, especially during the 
first few years, he has so much leisure to study, to write 
and otherwise enhance his value and professional stand- 
ing, that he greatly outranks the social worker in opportu- 
nity. Besides, the college instructor’s work is much lighter 


*The writer can say this quite objectively because his own ex- 
perience has been quite the reverse. 


104 


and very much less trying nervously than is the social 
worker’s. 

While on first thought the above may seem to be an 
unjustifiable digression, a little further thought will show 
its close relation to and bearing on the subject under dis- 
cussion. If what has been said is true with regard to the 
general social service field, and no one at all familiar with 
the facts will deny them as stated, it becomes quite clear 
why so few young men of ability enter social work, and 
why they do not stay once they are in it. 

Professor Tufts, in his “Education and Training for 
Social Work,” suggests that the reason for this may be 
found in the fact that social work has no intrinsic appeal 
to young men because it does little more than “oil the ma- 
chinery,” and also because it deals with abnormal situations, 
and young men are not interested in that type of work. 
Without considering this statement in detail here (it has 
been considered in a review of the book in the December, 
1924, issue of the Jewish Center—the publication of the 
Jewish Welfare Board of New York) we should like to sug- 
gest that perhaps a more subtle and telling reason than the 
above, is the comparatively low status which social work 
and social workers have among the professions and laity. 
This is no secret and the social worker is aware of it. Con- 
sequently it is difficult for a young man deliberately to 
choose it as a profession and prepare himself for it. If he 
happens into it by accident or because of idealism he soon 
finds that the people with whom he is working, if he wants 
to begin at the bottom, are inclined to look upon him with 
suspicion, as “lacking in something” for choosing a profes- 
sion which is “a woman’s work.” What makes the situation 
worse is that the women workers are the first to pass this 
type of judgment and they are frequently severest in their 
criticism, perhaps because they know the limitations of the 
field so intimately. As a result the young man is either 
driven from the field or is forced to make apologies for his 
remaining in it, by speaking of his stay in the work as tem- 
porary, and later coming to look upon it himself, as a step- 
ping stone to something else unless he is fortunate enough 
to get an executive or subexecutive position which will 
usually save him because it gives him a higher status and 
better salary. 

_ The situation described above is not a rationalization. 


105 


It affects social work profoundly because it means that men, 
cannot enter the field and learn it from the bottom up, first 
because they are unwilling or cannot afford to work for the 
low salaries which the field-work positions usually pay, 
and secondly, because the supervisory positions, especially 
in case work agencies are usually held by women“ who have 
gone through the mill of experience.” It is difficult, if not 
impossible, for the men to take the training which the 
supervisors have to offer because of the low status which 
that would afford them in the eyes of those same super- 
visors, and. particularly in the eyes of their female co- 
workers about whom they are especially sensitive, as 
is natural for the so-called “stronger sex.” Personal ex-_ 
perience during a number of years with numerous workers 
of both sexes where these attitudes were in abundance and 
where they determine the future of the young male worker 
might be cited in<proof of this 1f it were: necessary. ue 
result is that men workers who have had good training 
under experienced case work supervision are not available. 

In addition to this, there is an actual shortage of men 
workers, even inexperienced ones, and social agencies are 
usually forced to engage men of inferior academic training 
at higher salaries than women workers of the same training 
would receive, and one has to advance men at a higher rate 
in order to keep them, if indeed they can be kept. Organi- 
zations are therefore, forced into the anomalous position of 
paying a higher salary to men of inferior training and ex- 
perience than to women. Moreover, the work which they do 
is usually inferior because of their lack of training and ex- 
perience, and principally because they do not ordinarily 
bring to the work the devotion and interest that women do, 
since it is only a temporary thing with them. ‘There is also 
usually a greater turn-over among men than among women 
in social work, especially if a high standard of work is 
insisted upon. 

The above is not an argument for the exclusion of men 
from social case work. It is generally admitted that there 
are some types of work which only men can do. Nor is it 
an argument for a higher salary scale for men than women 
for an equal type of work. Such a compromise, aside from 
the purely ethical considerations of the economic and social 
injustice involved, makes for dissatisfaction, dissension, and 
disorganization of the staff. It is, we hope, an argument 


106 


for a consideration of the role and importance of the social 
worker in the modern social organization, and for giving 
him or her a compensation and status which will be in keep-- 
ing with the study, preparation, effort and nervous strain 
involved in the work. The plea here is for vision on the 
part of communities and boards of directors which will 
enable them to recognize the necessity and importance of a 
change of policy in this respect. Salaries of social workers 
are bound to increase, their status is bound to improve, 
standards of work are bound to rise. It 1s only a question 
whether communities will be farsighted enough to help 
usher in a period of greater progress, better work, and 
greater happiness to those whom social work aims to help, 
or whether by niggardliness, by lack of proper perspective, 
and by a lack of appreciation of the larger values involved, 
communities will drive from the field the most able men and 
women, those who have the ability to make better adjust- 
ments in other fields, and whether they will keep other able 
men and women from entering the feld or whether they 
will seek out the best and most promising young persons 
and make conditions of work bearable enough for them to 
enable them to devote themselves to the service of their 
fellow beings, which is at bottom the reason for any per- 
son’s entering social work. 

The argument is frequently heard that people should 
enter the field not because of the remuneration offered, but 
because of the “opportunity for service and the practice 
of idealism which social service offers.” We believe that 
the greatest calamity that could befall social work would 
be, the entrance into the field of self-seekers who would 
see only their own selfish interests and would further these 
at the expense of those whom they are to aid. However, 
due regard for the conditions under which we live makes 
it clear that regardless of how idealistic a person may be, 
the struggle for existence and the desire for status and 
security are such as to practically prevent him from enter- 
ing a field which offers little more than the practice of 
idealism. One cannot live by ideals alone, just as one 
cannot live by bread alone. If we wish to attract young 
people of ability and idealism to the work and if we want 
to encourage them to prepare themselves specially for it, 
attention must be paid to their needs and salaries. And 
conditions of work must be provided which will be con- 


107 


sistent with a standard of living such as others of like 
educational and cultural levels maintain. Opportunities 
must be provided for study and recreation in the form of 
- sabbatical periods which are now available to college and 
public school teachers* because the strain is too great and 
relaxation for a longer period than the ordinary vacation 
period is necessary. The progress which is being made in 
the arts and the sciences of the allied fields makes it ab- 
solutely important that the practitioner inform himself of 
the latest discoveries and formulations so that the best 
that science has to offer may be utilized in the treatment of 
human beings. The social worker working under present 
conditions is too fatigued, nervously and mentally, to be 
able to keep up with the literature and progress which is 
being made, after working hours. 

That such a policy as suggested in the foregoing would 
be productive not only of efficient work which can be 
translated into terms of human happiness, but would also 
mean huge financial savings to communities is hardly any 
longer open to question.** Any person really interested in 
the problem can fairly easily obtain the necessary data on 
which to base his own conclusions. 


*The New York Board of Education has recently made provision 
for sabbatical periods for its elementary and high school teachers. 
**See Section 3, pp. 60-76. 


108 


SECTION 8. 


FAMILY RELIABILITATION THROUGH FINANCIAL 
INDEPENDENCE 


Self-Support Department 


In 1919 when the writer took charge of the Relief De- 
partment, there was prevalent a very pessimistic outlook 
upon the work and the possibilities of this department, 
which established dependent families in business in order 
to make them independent. At first, it was difficult to 
trace this discouragement to its cause, because it was ob- 
servable in board and staff members alike. Later it was 
found to be largely due to a special audit of the financial 
standing of the department initiated by the president of the 
organization who wanted an accurate picture of the situa- 
tion. This audit was completed about the time of Miss 
Taussig’s leaving, so that the auditor did not have the 
necessary guidance in the interpretation and evaluation of 
the findings. The results were very discouraging to say 
the least. 

In 1920 the writer undertook a careful study of the 
work of the department for the period of 1917 to 1920 
inclusive. The findings of this study showed that there was 
no cause for alarm or uneasiness, but on the contrary, that 
the organization had every reason to be satisfied with the 
accomplishments. This study was made from two stand- 
points: first, the effect of the work on the families es- 
tablished, and secondly, the financial returns or savings to 
the organization. With regard to the first item, it was 
found that the work had the best possible effect upon the 
families. The real value of the work lay in the fact that 
instead of fostering or allowing a spirit of dependence to 
be developed in the families, there was evident a very 
wholesome spirit of independence, so much so that families 
which were making payments to the organization on the 
loans advanced them, preferred to pay for their medical 
service instead of getting the service from the dispensary 
which they could obtain free or for a very nominal fee. 
However, the effect of independence as compared with de- 
pendence on the morale of a family and its individual 
members is too well-known to need either description or 
argument here. That which is not so well-known, namely 
the financial savings which work of this kind usually brings 


109 


to an organization, deserves consideration in greater detail. 

Each family handled by the department was studied in 
relation to the probable relief expenditure which would have 
been necessary for the family during the period. Due al- 
lowances were made for the changes in budget which would 
have taken place because of the varying standards in the 
organization and the difference in cost and earning capacity 
of the members of the family. All of these items were 
determined on the basis of the conditions which were 
known to exist, doubtful situations were counted against 
rather than for the department. While there undoubtedly 
is an element of error in these calculations, it is extremely 
small because of the conservative manner in which the 
figures were compiled. This gave a total probable relief 
expenditure for a group of 20 families established during this 
period, of $25,946. We deducted from this sum the actual 
relief granted the families during the period as indicated 
by the individual family ledgers. This item amounted to 
$2,196. The gross saving in relief was therefore $23,750. 
We next calculated the total amount invested in establish- 
ments from the Self-Support fund, $10,622, and subtracted 
from this the total amount repaid at the time of the study, 
$3,426, which left a balance due us from the families of 
$7,195. Even if we were to consider this entire balance a 
dead loss and deduct the entire amount from the gross 
saving in relief, we would still have a net saving of $16,- 
555 in relief on twenty families in a period of about three 
years. However, the showing is much better because 
another phase of this study showed that about 73% of the 
repayments were made as agreed upon, and we can there- 
fore add at least this portion of the unpaid balance to the 
net savings in relief, bringing this item up to $21,707.* 

A study of the rate of repayments was also made and 
it was found that during this period 73% of the repay- 
ments were made as agreed upon, and 27% were delinquent. 
When it is borne in mind that these loans are made with- 
out any guarantors, the organization frequently having 
no more than a chattel mortgage or a judgment note which 
cannot be enforced, the showing with regard to the repay- 
ment seems truly remarkable. 

In this connection it should be pointed out that the 
reason for the poor impression of the work, which the special 


*See Table 6. 
110 


TABLE 6 


SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL COSTS AND SAVINGS ON CASES 
ESTABLISHED ANGE GeEN ESS, SEPTEMBER 1917, TO 


MAY 1920 
Relier necessary: (17 mocpestablisnedsa. 27 yp ass. $25,946.91 
Relief granted while in business...-.......-.......:....-.... 2,196.44 
Saving.in relict menage eee en et ck, $23,750.47 
Investment from: Self-Support Funds..............0..0...... $10,622.21 
A Otal Amon teitetia lima ceeee eee te sete Secceiac A 3,426.89 
Cost-of businessmioucdateme er teen oc). 7,195.32 
Actual saving to the Relief Department............ $16,555.15 
TABLE 7 


ANALYSIS OF RESULTS BY SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF 
CASES ESTABLISHED, SEPTEMBER $1917, TO MAY 1920 


Absolute business successes (Fully repaid and in business).... 10% 


INCLIVe StU payin ome Tecenar (imme ee Aes ee ote ek as 40% 

Still in business, success undetermined........... PE ASO. We ee 20% 

Closed, not in business, but independent... eee 15% 

Patlureés—not simile ness UCDeNCEN to 2.o2 2... nc ecessoscascselecestcenes 15%* 

Percentage of repayments as per agreement to date................ 72.95% 
TABLE 8 


DISTRIBUTION OF NUMBER OF CASES ESTABLISHED BY 
YEARS, SEPTEMBER 1917, TO MAY 1920 


Number ofscasessectauieneaaini lol? Assn eke 2 
Nunmiberotscasesmestaulisicanimmi7 lo» se eT ce 9 
INiimi beri Gis CaSesmestap licen simiol) wot a ee 5 
Number Of, casestes solstice iim tOZ0) oie eas. ke Ae i ee 4 
20 

TABLE 9 


FREQUENGY- “DISTRIBUTION OF ESTABLISHMENTS | BY 
TYPES OF BUSINESS, SEPTEMBER 1917, TO MAY 1920 


Deyn Goods: £1.32 eee ee PEE OOdaM VW Atel wotand) eee eee 1 
Bookbindery . 2:tcas0.caeeaeee Tee iv ara Storer ft ee 1 
BEAT O Ls wok ehicascautectsaien Dea gm lewelry- Peddler: cn S558, 1 
Newsstands: 2... fun eee TCELTTOCELY yi ee he eae ee 2 


*Causes of failures: 2 became ill while in business. 1 poor location. 


111 


audit referred to above gave, was found to lie in the fact 
that the bad accounts were not charged off at any time 
since the establishment of the department in 1911, and con- 
sequently it seemed as if few repayments were being made 
on an investment in loans amounting to $29,828.82 whereas 
as a matter of fact only about $11,000.00 of this sum rep- 
resented living accounts. When this fact was brought. to 
the attention of the interested persons, the situations took 
on an entirely different aspect. At this time also the prac- 
tice was established of charging off at the end of each year 
such losses as occurred during the year and to close out all 
accounts which for one reason or another should not be 
continued on the books. While this may ascribe a loss 
to one year on a business established in a previous year, 
it seems to be the only method available for the distribution 
of losses so that they may not accumulate and present a 
false picture of the work of the department at any given 
time. 

Another phase of the study related to the “success” or 
“failure” of the various business ventures. It was found that 
ten percent were absolute successes, meaning by this term 
those who had fully repaid and remained in business; 40 
per cent were probably successful, placing into this catagory 
those who were still in business and repaying as per agree- 
ment; 20 per cent were undetermined—still in business but 
not paying as per agreement or requiring assistance from 
time to time; 15 per cent were partially successful—those 
who repaid, were out of business but have not required relief 
because of habits or resources developed during their busi- 
ness venture; 15 per cent were failures—out of business. 
and dependent.* Of these three families, two became ill 
subsequent to establishment and had to give up their busi- 
ness, and one failed because the location chosen was a poor 
one. If complete independence and repayment be con- 
sidered the criterion for success, about sixty-five per cent 
of the families established were successful. If the criterion 
should be accepted as rehabilitation from the standpoint of 
independence of spirit as well as financial independence, 
between 80 and 90 per cent of the families established dur- 
ing this period may well be said to be successful. 

It will be clear from the above that this work represents. 


*See Chart IX. 


Mi2 


CHART IX 


Scale: One large square=$2,000 


Note:—This chart is based on data contained in Tables 6 and 7. 


113 


a very hopeful and very much worthwhile effort on the 
part of the organization. Plans were then laid for the 
development of the work because the number of families 
handled at any one time was no more than between fifteen 
or twenty. However, the industrial depression was begin- | 
ning to make itself felt and the time did not seem ripe for 
such development. Nor did it seem wise to establish many © 
families in business because of the critical business situation 
which developed, so that even the funds available for this 
purpose, at that time $5,000.00. per year, were not entirely 
used up. 


In September, 1922, when the business situation seemed 
brighter and more promising for the delayed development, 
a similar study was made for the five year period of Sep- 
tember, 1917, to September, 1922, inclusive. It was found 
that in general the findings of this study corroborated the 
findings of the previous study.* The losses were consider- 
ably heavier than they were during the earlier period, but 
it should be remembered that this study covers the years 
1920, 1921, and 1922, which saw an industrial depression 
during which thousands upon thousands of old establish- 
ments were forced into bankruptcy. Nevertheless when the 
losses for the entire period were calculated, they were found 
to be only fifteen per cent of the entire investment during 
the period, which is very little indeed when the type of 
persons which the department deals with and establishes in 
business is considered. They are usually not keen business 
people and rarely possess those qualities which are re- 
quired successfully to meet the competition which the 
neighborhood store faces. 


The findings were presented to Mr. Max. Adler, Vice- 
President of Sears Roebuck, a long-time friend of self-sup- 
port work, and one who, more than anyone else, has made 
the work possible by providing funds for it. He studied 
the records and reviewed the findings carefully, declared 
himself well satisfied with the results of the work, and 
offered a special donation to the Associated Jewish Chari- 
ties for the department. This was accepted and more money 
was made available for this work during 1923 than ever 
before. Unfortunately we found that conditions over which 
we had no control were thus far not conducive to the 


*See tables 10-16 inclusive, pp. 115-117. Also chart X, page 118. 
114 


TABLE 10 


SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL COSTS AND SAVINGS ON 
CASES ESTABLISHED IN BUSINESS, 
SEPTEMBER 1917, TO SEPTEMBER 1922 


Relief. necessary if not established............................ $39,357.81 
Relief granted while in business.....................-..-..--.-- 4,069.33 
Saving city relic bilge eee ee nenyy esses ere A Se chk Ue $35,288.48, 
Investments. tretiess i eee ee ee ea 24,465.65 
Repayments, Jeeeew ere cee ere Pe sate at 11,456.47 
Coste. to; date. meee ern See et 13,009.18 
Net saving to J. S. S. B. on 32 cases in five years.... $22,279.30. 
TABLE 11 


ANADYSISOlrerEe sus BY SUCCESS AND FPAILURE 
ODP voboris LABLISHED, 
SEPTEMBER 1917, TO SEPTEMBER 1922 


1. Successful—fully repaid and self-supporting.................... F-22220) 
Agtive—-successmaimactermined 10.200, 2 8008 dice tdia lens LIS S9354% 
3. Partially successful. 
A. Partially repaid—out of business but self-supporting 6 = 19% 


B. Fully repaid—transferred to relief... Pte NS 
4. Failure—S. S. F. sustained losses and cases were trans- 
ferred: tomretic meme etnree Neh ae! re OCS 


32 —100% 


Hears Lael 2 


BINANCIAL' ANALYSIs* Ob FAILURE OF CASES. ESTAB- 
LISH EDS SEE LEMBER1917,,TO SEPTEMBER 1922 


Relief necessary on 8 cases referred for relief if 


Snot established aaememmemen fe. ee $ 4,151.23 
Relief granted while in business............02...0.200..022.-.. 603.79 
DBavins in feliet, ia) meter eit ao Sa $ 3,547.44 
Investments from S. S. F. on 8 cases referred for 
£O]1CL es ee ee ee ee Aer okey 1,908.87 
Repavinients:..euee cee eee res er Sk 1,357.69 
| 807i. OM aire Re ei Rw e/ ik | 2 lo A aan 551.18 
Wetesa vite tOu ba... DR OMnORCASeS Sof. ue $ 2,996.26 


115 


TABLE 13 


DISTRIBUTION OF NUMBER OF CASES ESTABLISHED AND 
COSTS BY YEARS, SEPTEMBER 1917, TO SEPTEMBER 1922 


1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 

1 $200.00 $ 76.70 $1531.00 $ 330.00 $648.56 $ 930.00 
2 38.09 900.00 56.35... », 2064.80 &-* 392.00 72 EER.00 
3 225.50 950.00 2100.00 1150.00 1550.00 
4. 179.17 861.00 125.00 65.00 
<y 818.15 372.69 365.00 2001.33 
6 770.75 535.00 50.00 
7 63.35 566.72 

8 1445.43 

9 986.31 


Totals $238.09 $5456.11 $3771.04 $6086.52 $2190.56 $6714.33 


TABLE 14 


FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF ‘CASES ESTABLISHED BY, 
TYPES OF BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 1917, TO SEPTEMBER 1922 


a is Bstab- Nie ful “Sigces Fail 

lished mined! ure 

Newsstands 16 7 (Note 1-2) 7 2 

Shoe repairing 3 1 (Note 2) 2 

Grocery 3 ZeuUNOte ar) 1 

Tajlor Zz 1 (Note 1) 1 

Dry Goods fed 2 (Note 1-2) 

Cigar Store 1 1 (Note 1) 

Bookbinder 1 1 

Optician 1 1 

Jewelry Peddler 1 1 

Fruit Peddler 1 1 

Soda Water Stand 1 1 (Note 2) 


Note 1—One of this group is only partially successful—~e., 
partially repaid—out of business—self-supporting. 

Note 2—One of this group pay successful—fully repaid— 
transferred to relief. 


116 


TABLE 15 


DISTRIBUTION OF LOSSES BY YEAR OF CLOSING OF CASES 
ESTABLISHEDY SEPTEMBER? 1917, TO SEPTEMBER, 1922 


No. of 
Cases 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 
Closed 
$ 68.70! $ 54.35) $1320.89] $ 139.28 
110.00 292.78 7.39 964.88 
25.35 635.65 
69.51 
Totals © $ 178.70! $ 441.99] $1963.93) $ 1104.16 


TABLE 16 


ANALYSIS OF FAILURES BY CAUSES OF CASES ESTAB- 
LISH EDS REEMBER.1917,°TO SEPTEMBER. 1922 


DICK MGs een teem Sia DIS INCI ot mde re ES Ol eh Sued 3 
Failure of business due to deterioration in neighborhood........ 1 
Death terpenes Ga a SWE bare 1 

Total i 


TABLE 17 


RELATION OF LOSS TO INVESTMENT ON ESTABLISH- 
MENTS, SEPTEMBER 1917, TO SEPTEMBER 1922 


Total Investment—Sept. 1917, POM MCU LMELO Ce fine Ue ais. $ 24,465.65 
POtabelOSS—eep te LGV? Lome Dire O22 ok totus ha ewseted nets 3,688.78 
Pate Ok WL0SSwtOa AN Vest ite reir te) ome ee ee 15.07% 


‘TI ‘OL SoTqey ul poureyuos ejep uo paseq sit j1eyd sty [—:910N 


000‘7$—=erenbs f i 
adie] IQ :2[8IS 


aa 


ZZ61 ‘3dag = 


0} /I61 ‘das : i Raat ce ae Ee Seca ca cag eee Cum 


SOIPANIY ee FaHRE art 


y10ddng-jas 


X LUVHO 


quantitative development of this particular branch of our 
work. In order to outline the reasons for this, some of the 
guiding principles which have been formulated and adopted 
by the organizations for self-support work must now be 
presented. 

There are at least two ways in which Self-Support may 
be looked upon, and there are naturally corresponding 
criteria for judging the success of the work. The first of 
these is to look upon it as another form of relief work, 
where the investment is looked upon by client and agency 
as a grant rather than a loan and where no repayment is 
expected. All that can be expected from such establish- 
ment is that the family so established will have a rather 
uncertain income, that it will be subject to the fluctuations 
of the seasons, and that it will be obliged to return to the 
agency for assistance from time to time, if indeed continu- 
ous supplementation will not be necessary while the family 
is in business. While this is frequently advisable and even 
necessary in certain types of cases where the business 
ability of the person involved is doubted and where a large 
investment is therefore inadvisable in the beginning, ot 
where the person is ill and his span of life or activity is 
uncertain, it seemed best, that this type of work and the 
hazards of such investments should not be charged up 
against a department which requires the strictest kind of 
follow-up and a clear comprehension of and adherence to 
business principles and procedure. It was found that ming- 
ling this type of work with the other higher type of busi- 
ness establishment tended to lower the standards of work: 
and follow-up for the other cases. 

It was therefore decided to keep this group of cases 
within the jurisdiction of the family case work departments, 
the cost of establishment being charged against the general 
funds of the organization although the self-support worker 
was available to the case worker in all matters where her 
particular experience or skill would be helpful or necessary. 
The responsibility, as far as the business enterprise is con- 
cerned, is jointly carried by both workers, although the 
responsibility for the policies rests with the case work dis- 
tricts. Incidentally it might be pointed out that there is a 
triple advantage in this arrangement. Not only are the 
limited funds of the Self-Support Department not depleted 
by a type of work which is another form of relief work, 


119 


and not only does this arrangement safeguard the standards 
of business supervision and follow-up by the department, 
but it also has the effect of bringing to the case worker the 
benefits of learning something of business methods, thinking 
and procedure. To the self-support worker it brings an 
opportunity of being in continuous contact with case work 
thinking and processes so that her own work is subject 
to the mellowing influence of case work considerations. It 
hardly needs to be pointed out that this type of business es- 
tablishment is rarely productive of the highest success from 
the standpoint of inducing those attitudes of independence 
and self-reliance which are perhaps the greatest compen-. 
sation in self-support work. Unless the financial transac- 
tions such as, income and expenditures, profit ‘and loss are 
carefully controlled, there are all the elements for develop- 
ing an attitude of dependence with all the accompanying 
effects upon the family. 

The second type of self-support work is the legitimate 
establishment of a handicapped person in business for the 
purpose of complete independence. In this category are 
usually included persons who are handicapped either phys- 
ically, through industrial accident and disease, or socially,— 
by too large a family for the maximum earnings possible 
under the best condition in one’s trade, etc. This type of 
person usually requires and responds to a carefully con- 
ceived business relationship. Our procedure is somewhat 
as follows. 

The type of business 1s decided upon on the basis of 
physical condition,* as determined by careful medical ex- 
amination, previous work and business experience, interest 
and capacity, ability to establish and maintain pleasant con- 
tacts and personal relationships, availability of other mem- 
bers of family for assistance, etc. The desirable standard 
of living for the family is then decided upon and its cost 
determined. Our own practice is to calculate this standard 
as about one-third higher than the relief budget necessary 
for the family. The approximate necessary income can 
then be determined and the approximate investment arrived 
at. We usually figured repayments to be completed in 
forty months. 1/40 of the approximate investment is then 


*Persons suffering from, or at one time afflicted with, con- 
tagious disease, should be kept away from handling foodstuffs; 
cardiacs should not be expected to do strenuous work, etc. 


120 


added to the necessary living expenses which together with 
the current expenses for the business provides a rough idea 
of the necessary income from the business. 

During the last three or four years we accepted the 
principle of repayment as a necessary part of self-support 
work. First because we deem it essential to the morale of 
the family for obvious reasons; secondly, because the in- 
vestments per family are usually so large and the amount 
available for the work proportionately so small that we could 
reach but few families unless we have the additional income 
and the accumulated capital from repayments for reinvest- 
ments.* However, perhaps the most important argument 
for repayments is the margin of safety which they provide 
for the business. While the principle of repayment is im- 
portant because of the financial returns to the agency, we 
believe that it is much more important to insure the success 
of the enterprise by providing that the income from the 
business should be greater than the immediate needs of 
the family require. This makes it possible for the family 
to look forward to the time when they will have the entire 
income from the business for themselves which will enable 
them to raise their standard of living, an ambition and in- 
ccentive which are of considerable importance to the morale 
of the family. But it has the added advantage that if the 
business should suffer a set-back for whatever reason, the 
family does not need to resort to relief or borrowing in order 
to maintain its necessary standard, because it simply dis- 
continues its repayments for the time being. If it did not 
have this margin it could not withstand the slightest re- 
verses without going back to a relief basis, a procedure 
which would be fraught with the greatest danger to the 
spirit of independence which is the greatest asset in the 
work. 

In view of the above this principle was accepted by the 
organization and all establishments were made on this 


*In 1923, the Board of Directors adopted the principle of the 
general fund reimbursing the self-support fund at. the same rate 
as the client pays until the combined repayments of the client and 
the general fund are equal to the original investment at which 
time repayments from the general fund are discontinued. The aim 
of this arrangement was to distribute the burden of the large invest- 
ments so that the limited fund of the Self-Support Department 
would be replenished at a greater rate than the small repayments 
made possible. 


121 


basis. A review of the current cases leaves no doubt that 
if not for this practice, a comparatively large number of 
the families now independent, would have been forced back 
to a relief basis during the depression, whereas, the margin 
provided by the repayments makes it possible for them to 
maintain themselves without making all the payments 
agreed upon. It cannot even be argued that the organiza- 
tion is the loser in the application of this principle because 
otherwise it would be obliged to give in relief what it now 
loses in repayments. That the latter is the less costly so- 
cially no person at all familiar with the dangers of relief 
giving will have the slightest doubt. 

Recent experiences seem to indicate a need for re-ex- 
amining this policy. The reason for this lies not in any 
inherent weakness which has suddenly been discovered, 
but in the fact that it is very difficult to find the types of 
business at the amounts which the organization is willing 
to invest per family, the income of which should be suff- 
cient to enable the family to live on the accepted standard 
and to make the necessary repayments. This is due to the 
fact that industrial conditions have been so bad the last 
year or so that owners are unwilling to sell a paying busi- 
ness at a time when the industrial situation is such as to 
make it unsafe for them to do so because of the difficulty of 
securing employment. Where they are willing to sell, the 
amount asked for is usually out of reach of the organiza- 
tion, (although in some instances more than $3,000 has 
been invested for a single family!), or the price is out of 
proportion to the income, or the income is not sufficient 
to meet the needs of the family and the necessary repay- 
ments. ‘he case workers, fully appreciative of the dangers. 
and effects of relief, have recently urged the abandonment 
of the principle of repayment because that would reduce the 
necessary income and would make establishment easier. 
They agree that the principle is sound and that the practice 
is desirable, they also agree that if the margin provided 
by repayments is eliminated, the dangers of families being 
forced to revert to relief would be greatly increased. How- 
ever, they feel that the plight of families eligible for estab- 
lishment and their disappointments at not being established 
after waiting for months, are sufficient cause to modify the 
policy. Whether they are right or wrong, the problem pres- 
ents a real challenge and must be carefully considered. | 


Poe, 


Another factor which has contributed to the reduction 
of the number of self-support establishments is the avail- 
ability of the Industrial Shops as an outlet. Until July, 
1923, when the shops were established on the present basis 
of operation,* the only resource open to the case’ worker 
was self-support. Now a good many persons who would 
have been considered for self-support are sent to the shops 
either for retraining or try-out employment before a busi- 
ness is thought of. It is quite proper that this be so and 
this possibility was thought of when the shops were con- 
templated even to the extent of joining the Self-Support 
Department with the Shops. However, while the shops 
will care for certain types, and while they offer a tremen- 
dously important additional facility to the case worker, self- 
support still remains the most constructive and satisfying 
solution for a good many problems. 

One other problem should be mentioned in this con- 
nection, and that is the advantage of buying established 
business as compared with starting new ones. It has been 
suggested that the problem of finding establishments suit- 
able for our purpose might be solved by renting stores and 
setting our clients up in them with new stock and fixtures, 
and allowing them to build up the business from the bottom. 
While this may be possible in some cases, it seems unwise 
as a general practice for the following reasons: 

1. Most of our clients, and for that matter most clients 
coming to social agencies for this type of help, do not pos- 
sess the necessary business ability to develop a business 
from the beginning. They may have the ability to carry 
on what has already been established and organized, but 
they usually do not have the ability to begin at the bottom. 

2. The hazards would be much greater than in purchas- 
ing going establishments for at best the worker would have 
little more than a more or less intelligent guess as a guide 
in the selections of locations. 

3. The ability, capacity, and reliability of a client could 
never be adequately gauged because there would be .no 
basis of comparison with previous earnings of the particular 
business. 

4. Relief would be necessary during the period of de- 
velopment so that the family would be subjected to all the 


*See page 143. 
123 


dangers of dependency and loss of initiative during the 
pericd. 

5. There would be no saving for the agency because 
what would be saved in the purchase price would be more 
than offset by the relief which would be necessary especially 
since most purchases are made on the basis of inventory 
with a definite sum for “good will.” 

6. Last but by no means least should be mentioned the 
danger of discouragement which is likely to come to the 
client due to failure. This danger can hardly be overes- 
timated especially when the high rate of mortality of small 
neighborhood stores is taken into account. 

In light of the above it does not seem that this offers a 
solution to the problem of finding the right kind of busi- 
nesses at a reasonable cost. We can only hope that the 
situation will improve with the general improvement of 
industrial conditions. 

In October, 1921, the Board adopted the principle of 
charging a small interest on loans made by the Self-Support 
Department. This policy was inaugurated after careful 
study of its desirable and undesirable features. It is looked 
upon purely as an additional incentive for repayment. The 
rate of interest is two per cent per annum for the unpaid 
balance calculated monthly. Thus on a loan of $100 to be 
paid in 40 monthly installments, at the end of the first 
month, interest on the entire sum is charged. This is added 
to the monthly payment. At the end of the second month, 
interest is charged for the loan less the first payment if 
payment has been made. At the end of the third month, in- 
terest is chargéd for the amount of the loan less the two 
installments paid, etc. A table of interests was prepared 
for easy calculation and ready reference.* It is explained 
to the client that he saves money by making prompt pay- 
ments. An additional incentive is provided by the arrange- 
ment that the amount paid as interest is applied to the 
principal at the end of each year if payments are made 
promptly and without interruption during the year. On 
the larger loans this is a considerable sum so that people 
have been known to borrow elsewhere in order to make their 
payments regularly. This is of course not countenanced 
by the worker for obvious reasons. However, the effect 
of this new policy has been very encouraging. 


*Table 18, page 125. 
124 


TABLE 18 


TABLE OF INTEREST ATS TWO;PERCENT .PER ANNUM ON 
LOAN OF $100 REPAID IN FORTY MONTHLY 


INSTALLMENTS 
Amount on 

End Total Paid which interest Interest 

of Monthly at end of is to be paid to be 
Month Payment Month at end of month Paid 
1 $2050) nS $ 100.00 $16 
2 2.50 5.00 97.50 16 
3 2.50 7.50 95.00 aU 
4 2.50 10.00 92.50 5 
5 2.50 12.50 90.00 Shs 
6 2.50 15.00 87.50 14 
7 2.50 17.50 85.00 14 
8 2.50 20.00 82.50 Was 
9 2.50 22.50 ; 80.00 Ae 
10 2.50 25.00 77.50 AP 
at 2.50 27.50 75.00 pi2 
12 2.50 30.00 72.50 12 
13 2.50 32.50 70.00 id 
14 2.50 35.00 67.50 iar | 
15 2.50 37.50 65.00 10 
16 2.50 40.00 62.50 10 
17 2.50 42.50 60.00 10 
18 2200 45.00 57.50 09 
19 2.50 47.50 55.00 09 
20 2.50 50.00 52250) .08 
21 ZU 52.50 50.00 08 
oe 2.50 55.00 47.50 07 
23 2.50 57.50 45.00 07 
24 ou 60.00 42.50 07 
25 2.00 62.50 40.00 .06 
26 2.50 65.00 37.50 06 
27 2.50 67.50 35.00 05 
28 2.50 70.00 32.50 05 
29 2.50 72.50 30.00 05 
30 2.50 75.09 27.50 04 
31 2.50 77.50 25.00 ; 04 
32 2.50 80.00 22.50 03 
33 2.50 82.50 20.00 03 
34 2.50 85.00 17.50 02 
oe) 2.50 87.50 15.00 02 
36 2.50 90.00 12.50 .02 
of 2.50 92.50 10.00 01 
38 2.50 95.00 7.50 01 
39 2.50 97.50 5.00 
40 2.50 100.00 2.50 


125 


SEGTION 9: 


HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS AND FAMILY 
REHABILITATION 
The Household Economics Department 


The work of the Visiting Housekeepers was started as 
an experiment through the generosity of Mrs. Julius Rosen- 
wald, who contributed the salaries of two workers in 1918, 
one for the Relief Department and one for the Bureau of 
Personal Service. The Relief Department was fortunate 
in obtaining the services of a graduate nurse who undertook 
the work with an unusual amount of zeal and devotion, and 
continued it until early in 1924, when she was assigned to a 
special piece of work of an experimental nature, which is 
very promising from-the standpoint of its effect upon the 
peace and happiness of some of our families. It is yet too 
early to report on this work because the experiment has not 
progressed far enough. Although this worker did not pos- 
sess special training in household economics, and although 
she did not have the necessary background in the methods 
of teaching which one would deem essential for work of 
this kind, she was able to accomplish most excellent re- 
sults because of her ardent enthusiasm, tenacity of pur- 
pose, and indefatigable effort. 

The Bureau of Personal Service was unable to secure 
a worker until sometime in 1920, when it engaged the ser- 
vices of a household economics graduate who tackled the 
problem of household management with those families 
handled by the B. P. S. which needed this service. Al- 
though this second worker had the usual household-econ- 
omics training, her work was on the whole less successful 
because she lacked the guidance and experience which the 
first worker had in the Relief Department, because of the 
intensive case work which it aimed to do. 

When the amalgamation took place in 1921, other, more 
important departments required our attention and this work 
could not receive the direction and supervision which it 
needed for organization and development. In 1922, it be- 
came necessary to engage an additional worker and the 
department was turned over to the Case Reviewer for super- 
vision, although she protested that she did not possess the 
necessary training and experience in this particular field, to 


126 


train and supervise the workers. So heavy was the pressure 
from the organization because of the need for this type 
of service, that a fourth worker was added to the staff, al- 
though at no time did we feel that the work was being done 
as well as could be with more adequate supervision. All at- 
tempts at securing a properly qualified person to organize 
and supervise this work were unsuccessful and the work 
was directed alternately by the Case Reviewer and Case 
Consultant until the fall of 1924, when we were fortunate 
in securing the services, part time, of Mrs. Julia Dushkin, 
the present supervisor. She has had not only most excel- 
lent academic and professional preparation, but she has also 
had a very rich and varied experience in the work, in addi- 
tion to possessing an unusually sympathetic insight and 
undertaking of the problems and the habits of our people. 

The first thing we did was to reorganize our cooking 
classes conducted in the housekeeping centers established 
in the two branches of the Jewish People’s Institute, and 
our Industrial Shops. Next we attempted to analyze the 
problems which this department faced and to determine 
how effectively it was meeting them. While it is too early 
to draw any conclusions, it may be worth while to state the 
problem of the department as we see it now. 

Case workers working with difficult family situations, 
particularly in families where there is strife and friction 
between husband and wife, usually find that the conflict is 
due to one of two causes, frequently a combination of 
both: sexual incompatibility of a mild or serious nature, and 
the woman’s incompetency as a home maker. To be sure, 
both of these problems may be aggravated by economic 
stress and they may even be brought on by it, because with 
adequate financial income, the necessary advice and help 
may be obtained so that the.problem may never come to 
the fore. However, in families very near or below the 
minimum subsistence level, these two problems are usually 
found to be at the bottom of most cases of domestic diffi- 
culty. The first of these can frequently be handled, if it 
is not in an exaggerated form, by tactful probing as to the 
nature of the difficulty which may be either fear of con- 
ception, undue sexual demands on the part of one or the 
other, or some physical defect. All that may be necessary 
is to put the parties in touch with a sympathetic and under- 
standing physician who will find a solution to the problem 


127 


through contraceptive information, intelligent advice, -or 
medical attention and treatment. Usually, these cases, un- 
less they are of an aggravated nature, yield to fairly sim- 
ple and comparatively inexpensive treatment. Re-establish- 
ment of happy conjugal relations may result, after some fol- 
low-up, and the work is, on the whole, fairly satisfactory, 
although such situations are exceedingly unpleasant to 
handle, especially for young workers, and require the ut- 
most tact in the handling. Domestic difficulties which 
are based on the incompetence of the woman as a house- 
keeper are a much more difficult problem from the stand- 
point of the time and energy required for handling. These 
cases may be roughly divided into two classes: women who 
have adequate mentality but who have never had the neces- 
sary training; and those who have inadequate mentality 
and have never had the necessary training. 

Those who have adequate mentality present a com- 
paratively simple educational problem, although it is con- 
siderably complicated by the fact that the worker has to 
deal with a rather interesting set of attitudes and habits. 
In order to be able to deal effectively with mothers falling 
in this class, the worker should know not only her subject 
matter as well as the principles of educational psychology 
and methods of teaching, but she should also have a body 
of special knowledge regarding the food habits of the par- 
ticular Jewish group to which a given mother belongs. In 
addition, she must be quick to recognize and appreciate any 
conflict of. status which may be prevalent in the home or 
which may arise from the greater efficiency of the woman 
as a housekeeper due to the instructor’s efforts. 

The visiting housekeeper must know the food habits 
of the group in order to be able to deal intelligently with 
them by substitution. Such. knowledge is also necessary 
because the mother needing this instruction will, not in- 
frequently, be inclined to resent or deprecate the efforts 
of the instructor. She is likely to take every opportunity 
to display her superiority by showing off her knowledge 
of dishes and their preparation, of which the instructor 
may be ignorant, or in which she may be inexpert because 
of lack of practice. Furthermore, in order to be able to 
present logical and compelling reasons for changing or 
abandoning foods to which one is accustomed and which 
one relishes, the instructor must know the ingredients and 


128 


preparation of those foods. Mere “authority,” an arbitrary 
“thou shalt” or “shalt not” will, in most instances, be in- 
effective with intelligent mothers especially since they are 
on the defensive, and they will unconsciously resort to 
various means for compensating themselves for the inferior 
position in which they are placed in the eyes of husband, 
children, and neighbors, because of their need for instruc- 
tion in matters which “every woman knows instinctively.” 
Unless the instructor can hold her own with women of 
this kind she is doomed and likely to lose her influence. 
Not infrequently has the writer been told by clients that 
they had nothing to learn from a cooking class, because the 
teacher did not even know how to prepare certain dishes. 
Where the problem is complicated by the necessity of liv- 
ing within a relief budget, the visiting housekeeper must be 
even more expert, for the mother is certain to take refuge 
behind the claim that all she needs is a more adequate 
allowance and she “will get along without any classes.” 

The problem of breaking old food habits and establishing 
new ones is, of course, an exceedingly difficult one as any- 
one who has an aversion to a particular food or group of 
foods will easily realize. Here again the worker must be 
a psychologist rather than a “boss.” The greatest amount 
of patience and perseverance is frequently necessary to 
accomplish the desired end. 

However, the food problem is only one phase of the 
visiting housekeeper’s work; the problems of economical 
food purchase, household management, house cleaning, dis- 
tribution of the burden of the housework on all the mem- 
bers of the family, the inculcation of regular habits of eat- 
ing, play and rest, all of these properly come within the 
domain of the visiting housekeeper, because they require 
special knowledge, skill and ability to “get across” which 
can hardly be expected from the general case worker be- 
cause of the many other problems which she has to handle 
and in which she has to be expert. On the other hand, 
if the visiting housekeeper is to be successful in her field, 
she must have the case worker’s approach, use the best 
case work methods, and assume the case worker’s attitude 
and state of mind. Unfortunately, all this is not as yet 
considered part of a course in household economics. 

If the problem which the intelligent but untrained wo- 
man presents is difficult because of the delicate and intricate 


129 


psychological problems involved, the opportunities for com- 
pensation, in terms of results accomplished, are unexcelled. 
Few persons engaged in the field of social case work have 
the opportunities to see the beneficial effects of their work 
in such concrete accomplishments as the visiting house- 
keeper has. A clean home instead of a filthy home; an 
orderly family instead of a disorderly one; an equitable dis- 
tribution of the housework and a relieved mother instead of 
a broken-down, overburdened woman; an entire family 
sitting about a table, modestly but orderly set, instead of 
“individuals” being served individually, each at a different 
time; well prepared and balanced meals, instead of highly 
seasoned delicatessen; and, normal well-nourished, healthy 
youngsters, instead of pale, anaemic, undernourished, in- 
active and listless children; a happy, contented wife and 
mother, instead of a morose, nagging, irritable house- 
drudge ;—in short, a happy, peaceful, orderly family in the 
place of a wrangling, quarreling, unhappy lot of human 
beings, is very frequently the result of intelligent work on 
the part of the visiting housekeeper in cooperation with the 
case worker. 

The unintelligent and untrained mother presents an en- 
tirely different problem. To be sure, the worker stands 
in just as great need of the special training and educational 
background in her work with this type of woman as with 
the former. However, the work here is less promising, if 
less exacting. This type of woman usually does not pres- 
ent the difficult, psychological problems that the other 
group presents. With this type, it is training that is neces- 
sary, training in the sense of habit formation. Perseverance 
is the keynote to success here. The processes must be re- 
duced to their simplest terms and movements. Ideas must 
be presented singly and in their simplest form, with fre- 
quent repetition in order to be grasped. Habits must be 
established through repetition and by rote. The worker 
must also be prepared to meet relapses at critical moments. 
In one case with which the writer has come in frequent 
personal contact, and in which a truly remarkable piece 
of work was accomplished by the visiting housekeeper in 
two years of the most intensive effort, a complete breakdown 
came to the utter bewilderment and discouragement of the 
worker. She felt that the work seemed hardly worth while 
continuing if such complete collapse and utter failure could 


130 


be brought on by an insignificant incident in which an un- 
reasonable demand of the woman was not met. 

The question whether the work is worth while when the 
expense is balanced against the uncertain results with this 
type of mothers can only be answered by considering the 
available alternatives. Not to do this work means to leave 
this type of family to shift for itself and to develop along 
lines which may make it, if not a menace, then at least a 
drain on society. The children must be cared for and must 
be given the opportunity of overcoming their handicaps, 
due to their environment. It is really they, that make the 
work at all worth while. To leave them in the hands of 
their incompetent mothers without guidance and super- 
vision is to condemn them to a fate from which they should 
be saved, if at all possible. Nor is it possible to reduce the 
cost of this type of work by relaxing in the intensity of 
follow-up. These mothers usually require the most inten- 
sive and persistent care because as previously pointed out, 
it is all a matter of habit formation. The visiting house- 
keeper usually finds it necessary to visit the home daily and 
do the work with the mother so as to teach her by example. 
The worker can carry but a very small number of families 
of this kind at one time and she is usually obliged to carry 
the same families for long periods. Although visiting house- 
keeping work is frequently the most expensive from the 
standpoint of cost of service, nevertheless, no agency that 
is at all concerned about the welfare of its charges can 
afford to be without this service. : 

Another function of a visiting housekeeping department 
is the contribution which it can make toward the preparation 
and application of family budgets. 

The principle of relief-giving on the basis of a budget 
of family needs, is so generally accepted and so well-known 
that it needs no presentation here. The preparation of 
budgets for dependent families is, however, a precarious and 
difficult matter. Aside from the danger of applying a 
budget too rigidly, there is the further danger of too liberal 
or too meager a budget. While the function of social work 
might be defined as that of raising the standard of living 
and therefore a liberal budget would seem justified, it 
should be remembered that there are real dangers in pro- 
viding a dependent family with so liberal an income as to 
raise its standard of living to a point which it can never 


131 


‘ 


reach through its own efforts, even though its earning power 
be increased to the maximum. ‘This may be necessary in 
some situations where corrective work is to be done, but 
to do it as a general practice through a liberal budget is 
a questionable practice. Not only is it likely to induce 
a spirit of dependence but it tends to raise a comparatively 
small group of families above the level of its economic 
class and inevitably leads to the vicious problem of sub- 
sidization of industry. On the other hand, an inadequate 
budget’ is. just JaS dangerous, if not moré sope 
cause it endangers the health and morale’ “ot@ine 
family. To determine an adequate budget which will 
take into consideration the above and other factors which 
readily suggest themselves, such as, former living standards, 
special aptitudes or handicaps, cultural needs of the family, 
etc., and at the same time provide for a proper means of 
control so that the visitor may have the necessary latitude 
and be held within reasonable bounds, is one of the most 
difficult problems which the family case work executive 
faces. In the solution of this problem, the visiting house- 
keeper can be of inestimable help. Not only can she de- 
termine the needs and costs, but she is in a strategic posi- 
tion to apply and test the standards, so that the theoretical 
budget may become more than a mere convenience for the 
case worker. 


It will be clear from the above that at least as far as 
the writer is concerned, a household economics department 
is an essential adjunct to a family case work department. 
The question raised elsewhere in this review,* whether the 
general case worker should add this to her many duties, 
might be answered by saying, that the fact that the special 
workers who could concentrate on this work to the ex- 
clusion of all else, have not as yet succeeded to any con- 
siderable degree in standardizing this work certainly in- 
dicates that much less would have been accomplished even 
than has been, if the general case worker had been doing it. 
It may also be said without much fear of successful con- 
tradiction that the general case worker knows too little 
about her own work, and usually remains on the job for 
too short a time.to be able to undertake all these extra 
duties without injury to her work even though her case 


*See page 92 ff. 


Te 


count be materially reduced. The tendency for the general 
case worker to do more and more of the complete job 
is a welcome one. But we must not lose sight of the fact 
that thus far, our training of social workers is too inad- 
equate and the body of transmittable technique in case 
work is too unreliable to justify the diffusion of energies 
and attention of the case worker, if case work is to develop 
in accordance with the needs and the demands of the times. 


io 


eek ONTO: 


BRINGING SOME SUNSHINE INTO LIVES OF DARKNESS 


Institutional Visitation 


In the Bureau of Personal Service, the penal and cor- 
rectional institutions were visited by one person and the 
hospitals for the insane were visited by the rnental hygiene 
department.* During the period of the war, the visiting 
of the penal and correctional institutions was discontinued 
because of shortage of staff. The visiting of the state 
hospitals was also neglected immediately before and after 
the discontinuation of the mental hygiene department so 
that the institutions were practically not visited during 
1920, 1921 and part of 1922. 

The abandonment of this work brought about consider- 
able protest and resentment from the community, and we 
were finally forced to take up this work again early in 
1923. ‘This was made possible for us by the fact that the 
Legal Aid Department was able to take over the criminal 
court work and the County Jail visiting which made it 
possible for the worker whom Miss Low had taken from 
the institutional visitation and assigned to the Criminal 
Court, to undertake once again the contact with the institu- 
tions. Aside from the fact that this arrangement made 
possible the resumption of a piece of work which needed to 
be done, it was also desirable because it brought the Crim- 
inal Court and the County Jail work under the jurisdiction 
of the Legal Aid Department where all court work should 
be concentrated. At the present time, the Federal Courts 
are the only courts with which the J. S. S. B. has contact, 
(except the Juvenile Court which is a special problem) 
which are attended by a worker who is not attached to the 
Legal Aid Department. The special, though somewhat 
questionable arrangement, regarding this court, is due to 
the fact that the worker who covers the Federal Courts for 
the Bureau has had many years contact there and has 
established a rapport with the court-attaches which could 
not be duplicated. Since this work is not very heavy and 
since the present arrangement works no particular hard- 
ship on the organization nor the worker, the arrangement 


*See page 77. 
134 


is continued especially since it is at the request of a 
worker who has richly deserved every consideration from 
the organization by twenty-five years of devoted service. 

The work involved in institutional visitation, while not 
offering the opportunities for constructive work which some 
of the other departments of the Bureau offer, is, nevertheless, 
very much worth while, because it helps to cheer the un- 
fortunate inmates in the institutions. To many of them, 
our worker is the only reminder of the outside world, and 
frequently represents the only hope which they may have 
of leaving the institution. 

Whether we can or should help them realize these hopes, 
we are rendering a distinctly humane service by keeping 
them in touch with the world outside the institution. We 
are frequently helpful to them in numerous ways, by bring- 
ing them delicacies occasionally, meeting their special per- 
sonal needs which would not be met if we were not on the 
ground. We have also been able to lighten the burden of 
many an unfortunate by interceding for him with the au- 
thorities, a thing which was possible for us by virtue of the 
fact. that we can look after the individual whereas the in- 
stitutions which are almost always undermanned, fre- 
quently lose sight of the individual inmate. 

One long felt need, which has never been met and which 
could be met through this department, is the desirability of 
the Jewish community having definite knowledge as to the 
numbers of Jewish inmates in the state institutions. That 
this is a matter of real importance need hardly be argued. 
Information should be kept as to the number of Jews who 
are inmates of the penal and correctional institutions and 
‘in the state hospitals. The same is also true with regard 
to the various courts. Unfortunately, it has thus far not 
been possible for us to get to the point where we could afford 
to spend the money necessary to gather this information. 
The Jewish Social Service Bureau is the only Jewish agency 
in the State of Illinois which has the necessary contacts for 
gathering such information, and if we do not undertake this 
task, no one can or will. Sooner or later, we shall need 
this knowledge and if that occasion should ever arise, the 
lack of this information will outweigh many times the cost 
which gathering and compiling the data would be to the 
Jewish community. We can only hope that during the 
next year or so, we may be able to make a start in this 


135 


direction. This may be facilitated by the fact that we shall 
have to engage an assistant to the worker covering the in- 
stitutions because it is not possible for her to do all of the 
work herself. When such a worker is added to the staff, it 
may be possible to secure the data which would make the 
desired information obtainable. 


136 


LALO NL 1: 


CENTRAL PURCHASING AND SUPPLIES 
Department of Purchases and Supplies 


It was not until the middle of 1922, that we could turn 
our attention to this department. This was not because this 
department was unimportant—it is spending about $60,000 
per annum, but rather because our attention was more 
urgently needed elsewhere. Another reason for the delay in 
getting to it was the fact that various tests and reviews 
which we made of this department, superficial though they 
were, assured us that the purchases were being made as 
carefully and as economically as possible. It was a prob- 
lem of systematizing the work to a greater degree and in- 
troducing the elements of control which the purchase and 
distribution of so large an amount of merchandise as the 
increased department handled, required. 

The first thing we did was to introduce a voucher system 
for all purchases so that a voucher is submitted for approval 
by the buyer to the proper authority. This voucher in- 
dicates the item, the quantity, approximate cost of purchase, 
date of last purchase of the same item, quantity and price 
paid at that time and amount of purchases to date. This 
makes possible instantaneous comparisons of quantity and 
price of the two purchases and also provides a check on all 
purchases so that they can be controlled in accordance with 
the budget provided therefor. If proper caution is exercised 
so as not to carry this type of control too far it has con- 
siderable value as an administrative device. 

The next problem was to reorganize the supply room so 
as to make an up-to-date stock room out of it. The aim which 
we set ourselves was to institute a perpetual inventory, 
with incoming goods being charged to the department and 
the outgoing goods credited to it, care being exercised lest 
the additional clerical work should require too much extra 
help which would make this system too expensive. We are 
glad to be able to say that we were able to accomplish 
all this without the need of additional clerical help except 
as the normal increase in the volume of work handled by 
this department required extra help. We built a series of 
simple bins, of a special design, which can be used as 
shelves for stocking goods as well as for the purposes of 


137 


hanging clothing in them by the withdrawal of movable 
shelves. A simple, up-to-date, perpetual inventory was in- 
stituted so that we know at all times the amount of a given 
item on hand, the rapidity of turn-over, the value of the 
stock, etc. The records of receipts and distributions are 
kept in the general record room of the organization so that 
we are certain of an accurate record, inexpensively kept, 
and serving the purposes for which it was intended, to a 
remarkable degree.* 

During 1924, we developed a special ledger for “Relief 
in Kind” which gives us an accurate control of the amount 
of relief in kind granted to a given family in relation to what 
it should receive. This was found necessary because our 
control on this kind of expenditure which mounts into the 
tens of thousands of dollars per year was practically nil. 
While we give the visitor and supervisor complete and 
final authority as to when grants should be made, whether 
the family is receiving money grants for these items or not, 
information as to the standards prevailing in the various 
districts was found necessary because we were under the 
impression that the standards varied greatly in the several 
districts. The information obtained for the first six months 
of 1924, corroborated this impression. We are certain that 
the compiling of this information and making it available 
to the entire organization on a comparative basis will tend 
to bring about an adjustment of this item to a normal level. 
This was borne out in other similar situations. 

During 1920 and 1921, several attempts were made to 
secure cast-off clothing and furniture in the hope of develop- 
ing a regular source of income for the organization through 
this means. The entire membership of the then Associated 
Jewish Charities was written to and a systematic “drive” 
was made for this. A disinfecting room was built in, a 
renovating department was maintained, and we were pre- 
pared to handle the “donations” in proper fashion. Careful 
record was kept of the expenses of the “drives” and “follow- 
up” exclusive of the time of the regular employes. This 
was compared with the value of the items obtained after 
cleaning and renovating, with the result that we abandoned 


*Actual stocktaking at the end of 1923, a little over a year after 
the system was installed, showed a discrepancy of only $13.00 as 
compared with the perpetual inventory on a stock of as many thou- 
sands of dollars. 


138 


the experiment as a non-paying ‘proposition. We were, of 
course, aware of the possible value of establishing a “habit 
of giving” on the part of a certain percentage of the mem- 
bership of the Associated but all in all, it did not seem worth 
the effort involved. 

In December of 1924, an arrangement was entered into 
with the Jewish Home Finding Society, for the amalgama- 
tion of its store-room with ours. This was done at their re- 
quest, all of us being in agreement that a unified store-room 
with one purchasing agent for both organizations would be 
productive of worth-while economies. We can only hope 
that this is a fore-runner of a department of central purchas- 
ing and supplies for all the organizations within the Federa- 
tion, conducted and maintained by the Jewish Charities of 
Chicago. That this would result in vast savings to the Chari- 
ties no one at all familiar with the situation will doubt. 


139 


BEG TEL ON 22: 


WORK AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR “CHARITY” 
The Industrial Work Shops 


Perhaps the most outstanding and most important 
single development within the Jewish Social Service Bureau 
during the period covered by this review, a development 
second in importance only to the amalgamation between the 
Bureau of Personal Service and the Relief Department 
from the standpoint of the far-reaching effects on the work 
of the organization, was the reorganization of the Industrial 
Workshops. It may be safely said that this development 
took place only because of our critical attitude toward our 
own work, and because of our dissatisfaction with the re- 
sults obtained therefrom. 

The last few years brought a realization to people iu 
close touch with agencies engaged in attempting to do re- 
habilitation work, that the methods in vogue are not always 
adequate to attacking the problem at its source. This seems 
to be particularly true of such agencies as use monetary 
relief in their endeavors to relieve poverty and suffering. 
They recognize that monetary relief frequently does little 
to solve the problem on a permanent basis. They also 
recognize that relief is distasteful both to the social worker 
and to the client, especially when there is a natural provider 
who, for one reason or another, is unable to provide 
adequately for his family. Such clients are usually hesitant 
and are frequently opposed to material relief, at least in the 
first stages of their contact with it, on the ground that what 
they want is an opportunity to earn their own living and 
not “charity.” : 

In the Jewish Social Service Bureau the dissatisfaction 
with monetary relief and haphazard and sporadic attempts 
at change of occupation as the only available means of 
solving this type of dependency problems had become par- 
ticularly keen. Because of changes which had taken place 
in the organization, and because of a broadening of the scope 
of work, the staff took stock of the results of many years of 
relief work, and the fact that the problem was not dimin- 
ishing but rather increasing in spite of the most advanced 
methods being used demanded recognition. 

The Jewish community has been spending hundreds of 


140 


thousands of dollars annually to relieve distress. These 
expenditures have been continuing for many years, never- 
theless, the need was becoming ever greater. While it was 
true that the machinery for aiding the maladjusted persons 
has been improved upon during the last few years, a frank 
facing of the facts made us realize that it is also true that 
industrial society is becoming progressively more complex 
and the competition which the individual must meet is 
becoming more keen. Those persons therefore, who are not 
endowed with special abilities or training are being thrown 
out by industry in increasing numbers and thus become 
dependent upon the community. It is apparent to students 
of the problem, that to deal with this situation on a relief 
basis encourages an attitude of dependency and condones 
social waste to a degree which should not be tolerated. It 
was this conviction which prompted the search for a more 
adequate method for the handling of the problem. 

In order to visualize the dependency problem which the 
Jewish community of Chicago was facing with particular 
reference to industrially handicapped persons, whether the 
handicap was of a physical, mental or social nature, a study 
of the handicapped was undertaken. It was felt that only 
by gathering all of the available facts could the problem 
be properly evaluated, and furthermore, that any plan for a 
real solution of the problem, insofar as one was possible, 
should be based on an objective study of these facts. 
We aimed to be conservative in estimating the extent 
of the handicap problem. ‘The cases studied and enumer- 
ated were carefully selected by the visitors and the re- 
spective supervisors according to a carefully prepared ques- 
tionnaire. They were then reviewed by the case reviewer 
and survey officer and finally by the superintendent so that 
it was safe to assume that there were a considerable number 
of cases handled by the organization who were not included 
in the survey, and for whom training might be advisable. 
The findings and recommendations were submitted to a 
joint session of the Board of Directors and the heads of 
departments of the Jewish Social Service Bureau for 
critical consideration. Before the final draft was drawn, 
the entire manuscript was submitted to Professor Emery 
T. Filbey, of the Department of Education of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, who very generously consented to 
review the findings, and submitted his suggestions and 


141 


criticisms. The writer has no hesitation, therefore, in say- 
ing that this report embodied the best thought that the or- 
ganization could bring to bear on the problem. 

While the needs of the other organizations within the 
Associated Jewish Charities, such as, Winfield ‘Tubercu- 
losis Sanitarium, Michael Reese Hospital, and the Michael 
Reese Dispensary were considered, they were not as care- 
fully studied as the needs of the Social Service Bureau be- 
cause the information was not so easily obtainable and also: 
because ultimately all of these needs in the community are 
referred to the Social Service Bureau, it being the clearing- 
house for the entire community. It may be assumed, there- 
fore, that the situation which the Jewish Social Service 
Bureau faced and which was described in the study repre- 
sented a fairly conservative picture of the community 
problem. 

The members of the staff of the Social Service Bureau 
were exceedingly helpful in this study. This is particularly 
true of the supervisors and the case reviewer. ‘Their eager- 
ness to assist in the survey was a manifestation of their 
intense interest in the problem, and the time and energy 
which they so readily gave to this study in addition to their 
many other duties was indicative of their desire for a better 
procedure than the one available at the time of the study. 

Space does not permit us to present the findings of the 
study in any considerable detail here. It must suffice for 
our present purpose to say that the survey considered the 
handicapped men, women, boys and girls with whom the 
Bureau was in contact, in relation to their needs because 
of their handicaps. It was found that of a total handicapped 
population, at the time of study, of 301 persons, 231 men 
and women (exclusive of boys and girl) were dependent 
with their families upon the Bureau either partially or 
wholly for their support. On this group the Bureau spent 
about $313,000 in a dependency period averaging less than 
four years. The average cost per person during this period 
was about $1200 with more or less negative results. 

We next analyzed the problems which the Bureau faced 
with regard to the handicapped, and which needed to be 
solved. These were, in the order in which they are listed 
in the survey: 1. Prevention of dependency and its disas- 
trous effects on the clients; 2. Necessary reduction of 
relief expenditures; 3. Physical rehabilitation of the handi- 


142 


capped; 4. Mental rehabilitation of the handicapped; 5. 
The need for occupational therapy; and 6. Vocational and 
occupational training and retraining. 

The conclusion to which all this led, a conclusion which, 
to be frank, we had reached a long time before the survey 
was made and which it more than corroborated, was that 
the establishment of a series of shops, properly conceived 
and organized, would meet these needs. A plan for such an 
organization was worked out and included in the survey. 
It called for an organization which would provide: training 
for those who never had received training; retraining for 
those who could not return to their former occupations, 
either because of disease or accident; opportunities for 
occupational therapy; and part or full time employment 
for those who are unemployable in industry. 

The various aspects of the problem were carefully con- 
sidered and the difficulties and limitations of the plan were 
frankly presented. It was pointed out, for instance, that 
such an organization could never be and should not aim 
to be self-supporting because of the unproductive training 
periods, the necessarily inefficient people to whom the shops 
would have to cater, the high cost of overhead due to teach- 
ing and supervisory staff and also because as soon as a 
trainee gets to the point where he can be productive, the 
shops should aim to place him in the industry for which he 
is being trained. On the other hand, the benefits to be de- 
rived from work on the part of the clients, were also pres- 
ented and the value of the shops as a preventive and thera- 
peutic measure was fully outlined. 

Armed with the facts and conclusions as contained in 
the study and backed by a spirit of determination on the 
part of the Board and staff which was certain to overcome 
every conceivable obstacle, the President, the Industrial 
Shops Committee, and the Superintendent made their pres- 
entation to the proper authorities of the Federation. With 
the able and enthusiastic leadership of our President, little 
else than success could be the result. Fortunately, the 
Jewish Charities, through its executive director, who was 
also very sympathetic to our needs, was prepared to meet 
our request and made the necessary appropriation which 
enabled us to reorganize the Industrial Shops in May, of 


197.3: 


Through negotiations carried on simultaneously with 


143 


the Board of the Jewish Manual Training School we 
secured the use of their school buildings at 554 West 
12th Place, which had been vacant since the closing of the 
school about. two years previously. We were therefore 
able to move into the Training School and since we had all 
our plans laid beforehand, this was done almost immediately 
on our receiving permission to “go ahead.” In July, 1923, 
we engaged Mr. L. Day Perry, who made the study, to 
manage the enterprise, and plans were made for the im- 
mediate induction of people into the shops. 

At the time of this writing, the reorganized shops have 
been in operation for a little over a year and a half. It is, 
‘of course, too early to evaluate them adequately. Certain 
outstanding developments may be mentioned in order that 
something of an idea may be given of the extent of the 
progress to date. : 

1. Number of Employes. When the shops moved to 
their present quarters, there were employed in the shops 
about 30 people in three departments, exclusive of two rug 
weavers. Today, there are approximately 120 people em- 
ployed in the shops, in six departments. 

2. Opportunities for Men. Before the shops were re- 
organized there were practically no opportunities for men, 
and there were none outside of the blind men in the broom- 
shop. Today there are more types of employment for men 
than for women, so that approximately 50% of the employed 
personnel in the shops is composed of men. 

3. Wages of Employes. During the three years, 1920, 
1921 and 1922 (nine months of the latter), the shops paid 
out in wages approximately $26,000. In 1924 alone, the 
shops paid to handicapped persons approximately $35,000 
in wages. 

4. Variety of Occupations. The former shops were 
limited in the types of occupations to broom-making for 
the blind, and machine and hand sewing for women. There 
was no outlet for persons who could not or would not 
engage in these occupations. The new shops, though still 
not as flexible in this respect as could be wished for, offer 
nevertheless, a large number of occupations in the various 
departments and about the buildings, most of which have 
either work-habits or training objectives. The result is 
that we have been able to accommodate persons of almost 
every conceivable type of handicap, physical, mental or 


144 


O8eoIys) JO neding 9d1AIISG [eINO0G YsIMof dy} Jo s8urpling sdoysyIOMA [el4snpuy 


social. The departments now conducted in the shops are 
as follows :-— 

(a.) Machine Sewing. This department organized a 
number of years ago, through the generosity of Mrs. 
Julius Rosenwald, has recently been doubled in capacity, 
and employs about 30 persons, men and women, for work 
periods varying from two hours to full working days. The 
products are house dresses, aprons, boys’ and girls’ wear, 
night shirts, surgeons’ and nurses’ gowns, and a variety of 
other products. This shop is used for purposes of train- 
ing, retraining and employment of unemployables in in- 
dustry. Wage arrangements are by hour, piece-work, by 
day, and by the week, depending upon the type of person, 
his handicap, and the object which is aimed at by the shops 
in the particular case. Thus, where an incentive for de- 
veloping work-habits is necessary, the worker may be paid 
by the hour or piece, provided there is no danger to his 
health in speeding. On the other hand, in the case of a cardiac, 
where there is considerable danger of overstrain, arrange- 
ments are usually made to pay the worker by the hour, by the 
day or by the week, in accordance with his condition. The 
beginning wage is usually about 35c per hour while learn- 
ing, with graduated increases up to 60c per hour 

(b). Hand Sewing. This shop has been in operation 
about two and a half years, and employs mostly dependent 
women who have two or three children in school and who 
have a few hours to devote to employment. The products 
of this shop are very fine lingerie, trousseaus, and various 
other types of silk women’s wear. The shop operates in 
two shifts, a morning and afternoon shift, very few women 
staying the entire day. The rate of pay is fairly uniform 
ranging from thirty-five cents per hour for learners to 
sixty-five cents an hour for skilled sewers. 

The dependent women working in this and the other 
shops use about half of their earnings to apply toward their 
budget and half for themselves so that their income is above 
the budgetary allowance. This arrangement was devised 
not so much because of the monetary saving accruing from 
it to the organization, as because of the social value to be 
derived from a knowledge, on the part of the woman, that 
she is at least partially independent because of her own 
efforts. The effect of this on the children is of even greater 
importance as is indicated by what one of the women said 


146 


(ez6r ‘toquieseq) 
dOHS DONIMAS ANIHOVW AHL 


(pz6r ‘A1INf) 
GCaADUV INA — dOHS DNIMAS ANIHOVW AHL 


to the writer on one occasion when he asked her how she 
liked her experience because she had been particularly 
opposed to entering the shops because of a long history 
of dependency. The query was addressed to her after she 
had been in the shops a number of months. She fairly 
beamed as she replied that she liked it very much, es- 
pecially since her children thought that she was not getting 
“charity” any more but that she was earning all her money 
by working in the shops. Many other such experiences in 
one form or another served to convince us more than ever 
of the great value of the shops as an agency for preventing 
the types of attitudes due to dependency which are so 
ruinous to the character of the client and which are so dis- 
couraging to the social case worker. 

The atmosphere in this shop is such that the women 
love to come there. They work leisurely and freely con- 
versing with their neighbors, so that it has all the aspects 
of a sewing-circle rather than a shop. 

In organizing this shop and particularly in enlarging 
it, the aim was not so much to provide employment for the 
women because of their possible earnings as to provide a 
social outlet for them in order to divert their minds and 
attention from their troubles. It was recognized in the 
beginning, and so stated in the survey, that most women 
with dependent children are not, ordinarily, in position to 
undertake training for industry, but that they may follow 
with profit certain kinds of work under careful supervision. 
The purpose of such work should therefore be largely 
therapeutic except in the case of such women as would 
profit from job training. 

In asking mothers of children to give up a few hours 
each day for gainful employment, we were subjecting our- 
selves to severe criticism from certain parts of the Jewish 
Community. We knew that those who “feel” rather than 
“think” about the proper methods of “giving charity” would 
be likely to take us to task “for asking mothers of children 
to go to work,” when it is manifestly our duty to take 
care of them because we are receiving funds from the 
Community for this purpose. Although we were fully pre- 
pared to meet such attacks with cases illustrating the effects 
of simply “taking care” of mothers and children, we felt 
that it was of the utmost importance that we safeguard 
every step in the procedure. We knew that sooner or later 


149 


dOHS DONIMAS ANVH AHL JO YANUOD V- 


hetero 


i, 


some woman who needed the shops most would want them 
least, and would most likely make an issue of our request. 
We therefore carefully studied the women with dependents 
who would be referred to the shops. We found that in a 
great many, if not in most of the homes of such women, the 
home conditions were generally bad, that the women had 
few, if any, social contacts and that their interests were 
limited and circumscribed. They seemed to need some 
mental stimulus and diversion to keep them happy and con- 
tented. We thought that the associations which they would 
form in the shops might prove of great assistance in this 
because they would provide the social contact which most 
of them lacked and would utilize constructively the extra 
time which they had for worrying and brooding about their 
real and imaginary troubles. 

Experience has taught us that this is precisely what 
happens when women are given an opportunity for some 
work outside of the home. The Hand Sewing Shop has 
given part time employment to a large number of women 
for about two years. They have come to look upon 
their daily experience in the shop as upon a social event. 
The work in the homes has been systematized to enable 
them to come to the shops for three hours four days a 
week. This brought system into a hitherto disorganized or 
unorganized home and the need of cleaning up each day, 
dressing for the trip to the shop, wearing a clean apron 
while at work, handling delicate and highly colored fabrics, 
and the social contact with other women, also at work, in 
a wholesome normal environment has stimulated them and 
made them normal persons. The removal of unnecessary 
leisure and the substitution of an organized, well regulated 
activity has also been of tremendous value in the mental 
rehabilitation of those women whom the shops have thus 
far been able to accommodate. 


Shoe Repair 


The Shoe Repair Shop was established in the fall of 
1923 for the purpose of providing training for men as shoe 
repairers, and to give employment to cobblers who for one 
reason or another could not work in the industry. It was 
thought, at the time this shop was organized, that some of 
the men who had no trade and who could become shoe 
repairers could be trained here and later established in 


151 


shops for themselves. While one or two men could have 
been ready to enter industry as cobblers, because of the 
training which they received in this shop, there has been 
such a slump in shoe repairing in the last year or so that 
men find it dificult to make a living at it, and the shops 
have been obliged to keep these men on for the present. 

The problem of obtaining enough shoe repair work to 
supply eight or ten men with steady employment has never 
been satisfactorily solved. The workers and clients of the 
J..S. 5.5. bringvorvsend: their shoes*to the Shopsamaaue 
Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans has been very coopera- 
tive and is giving us all its work. Non-sectarian organi- 
zations, too, have generously responded to. the request 
for work. Nevertheless there has not been enough work 
to keep the men occupied at all times. We are quite certain 
that it would not be difficult to secure a good deal of work 
from the neighborhood where the shops are located. This 
would mean, however, that a few shoe-repairers in one 
neighborhood would suffer from unfair competition because 
of the excellent work and low prices which the shops can 
afford, a result which we want to avoid as an unsocial act. 

While there are undoubtedly enough shoes to be gotten, 
we have thus far not been able to work out any satisfactory 
method of collecting work because but few people will go to 
the trouble of sending their shoes to the shops by parcel- 
post. We are more hopeful now of solving the problem of 
sufficient work for this shop than ever before, because of a 
contract which we established, November 1924, with one 
of the large commercial houses in the City through the 
interest of an influential friend of the shops, whereby we 
get returned shoes which have been but slightly used, for 
the purpose of repair and resale. If this experiment should 
prove to be successful we shall be able to enlarge the shoe- 
repair shop to twice or three times its present capacity 
without any fear of not having sufficient work for the men, 
the shoes being ‘usedveither by the J@5. >) Bo ethevotnres 
agencies, or resold by peddlers and shop keepers in the 
public market. The problem of placing the trainees in 
industry will have to be handled in the same way as the 
same problem will be handled in the other departments of 
the shops. 


132 


JOHS WIVdaY AOHS AL AO aH AOD ay. 


Textile Department 


The Textile Department was established in July 1923. 
The aim of this department is occupational therapy and the 
establishment of work-habits. The products are various 
types of men’s and women’s scarfs, linen products, rugs, 
blankets, luncheon sets, etc. About 20 men and women are 
employed here for different work periods for the purpose 
of accustoming them to work. This shop also employs 
persons who cannot fit into industry. 

Insofar as possible, it is aimed to use this department - 
as an introduction to work or training. Loom weaving is 
particularly adaptable to persons who need mental or occu- 
pational therapy because of the comparatively simple move- 
ments and manipulations required, at the same time re- 
quiring sufficient attention to be stimulating without being 
fatiguing. ‘The employees in this shop represent a large 
variety of physical and mental handicaps. The rate of pay 
is similar to the rates in the other departments. 


Broom Department 


This department has been in existence for a number of 
years and is devoted exclusively to the employment of blind 
or near-blind men. It now employs ten men, the largest 
number employed in this department at any one time. It 
aims at little more than giving employment to blind men 
since it is not feasible to prepare them for industry, es- 
pecially in broom making, because they cannot compete 
with sighted persons in the quality or the quantity of their 
output. 

Various attempts have been made to find a different 
occupation for the blind men because of the feeling that 
the opportunities for an adequate living wage at broom 
making are exceedingly limited. Although the employes in 
this shop have been with the shop for many years and 
although they are working with the greatest degree of 
efficiency possible for men with this type of handicap, 
nevertheless they have been working at a comparatively 
low wage, earning from 15 to 25 dollars per week. The 
problem of the sale of the output, too, has been a serious 
one. Large inventories are accumulated from time to time 
so that they can be disposed of only at a considerable 
sacrifice. The conditions prevailing in this industry are 
such as to make successful competition on the part of our 


154 


(pZ6l ‘Jequiss0q url Ayroedeo ay} a[qnop 0} pasievjus useq sey doys siyy) 
ATO{—LNAWLUYVdAGC ATILXAL AHL 


‘ 


ecol 


shop impossible. Whereas the industry, employing sighted 
people, uses labor saving machinery which reduce the cost 
of production, our shop cannot do this because it would 
mean either the increase of production which would make 
our sales problem even more difficult than it already is, or 
it would mean the reduction of the number of men or the 
hours of employment, both of which are incompatible with 
the larger purpose of the Industrial Shops. ‘Thus far, how- 
ever, we have been unsuccessful in finding any other oc- 
cupation for the blind which would be satisfactory, and we 
have continued this department with the hope that sooner 
or later some way out of the difficulty may be found. 


Woodwork Department 


The Woodwork Department was established in the 
latter part of 1924 in order to increase the facilities of the 
shops for employing and training men. Thus far this shop 
has only been able to do chair caning and some light furni- 
ture repairing. It is planned, however, to develop a com- 
plete woodworking shop with special reference to general 
furniture repairing. Because of the newness of this de- 
partment it is impossible to say at the present time how 
effective this type of work can be for handicapped persons. 
It has proved to be helpful in providing employment for 
persons who could not otherwise have been properly ac- 
comodated in the shops. 


Other Types of Work 


In addition to the types of work enumerated above, the 
shops give employment to a considerable number of per- 
sons about the building as wrappers, messengers, ete. 
This type of work requires little skill and is used, usually, 
as an introduction to work for people who have not worked 
for long periods, or where for one reason or another, it is 
thought inadvisable to place a person at a definite task 
in association with others. 


Play Room 


The Industrial Shops maintain a play-room for the chil- 
dren below school age whose mothers work in one or the 
other of the shops. The playroom is in the charge of a 
trained kindergarten teacher paid for by the Chicago Wo- 
men’s Aid. This playroom is a very valuable adjunct to 


156 


BLIND MEN AT WORK! 


(One of the rooms of the Broom Dep't.) 


(sdoys 94} 0} UOTIppe jsa}e’T) 
dOHS AXYOMAOOM HFAHL 


the Shops not only because of the mothers who are able to 
work since their children are cared for, but also because of 
the training in proper habit formation, which it affords to 
children who would be roaming the streets if not for the 
existence of the play-room. 


Present Problems of the Industrial. Shops 


The problems which the Jewish Social Service Bureau 
faces with regard to the shops are many and difficult of 
solution. First of these is the problem of flexibility. In 
order to be most successful from a social viewpoint, the 
shops should have a large number of different occupations 
so that the occupation may be suited to the person rather 
than that the person be suited to the occupation. ‘This is 
exceedingly difficult of accomplishment because of the 
administrative problems involved. Such a policy, if car- 
ried out to the full extent would mean that the overhead 
in the shops would be prohibitive, that it could not develop 
any standard products, and that the sales problem would be 
much more difficult than it now is. While flexibility must 
continue to be the ideal of the shops, a certain degree of 
standardization and uniformity is essential for their success. 
The problem then becomes one of striking a proper balance 
between these two extremes. 

Another problem which the shops face continuously and 
which is closely connected with the problem of flexibility 
is the disposal or sale of the products. Thus far, the shops 
have not employed any professional salespeople (with the 
exception of a brcom salesman employed for a few months 
as an experiment which did not prove successful). The 
sales of all of the products have been effected by a group 
of volunteers, the most active being Mrs. Hortense Stumis, 
Mrs. A. R. Frank, Mrs. Isaac H. Mayer, and more recently, 
Mrs. M. D. Cahn. ‘These women, with a number of loyal 
assistants have sold practically the entire output of the 
shopene ii ine ialeands VV inter ot 1923, and during the 
Spring of 1924, the Federation of Jewish Women’s Clubs, 
under the able leadership of its president, Mrs. Abe Simon, 
and Mrs. I. H. Mayer for the shops, undertook an intensive 
selling campaign in the clubs affiliated with the Federation. 
This campaign has kept the shops busy the entire year, 
including the summer, when volunteers are usually inactive. 
During this period the orders came in such large quantities 


159 


(pry ,suUsWOM O8BvdIYD 94} Aq pouTejurey]{ ) 
AV ld AHL — SLNAWHSHYAAN Puke LSHY AV Id 


that the shops were always several months behind in filling 
them. 


However, in the fall of 1924, there was evident a notice- 
able slackening of pace on the part of the rank and file of 
the volunteer sales people. While individual organizations 
and their representatives remained loyal and are still work- 
ing as devotedly as ever, it is apparent that unless some new 
method is found to stimulate the interest of the volunteers 
and the purchasing public, this method of selling the prod- 
ucts of the shops cannot be counted on for very much 
longer. tine volunteers have, of course, created an interest 
and good will in the Community toward the shops which 
is worth a great deal from the standpoint of advertising the 
shops as a community enterprise, but in spite of this good 
will, an active selling campaign must be carried on con- 
tinuously in order to keep the shops supplied with orders. 
Whether the solution of this problem lies in a regularly 
employed sales force, or whether volunteers can carry the 
shops indefinitely, or whether a greater degree of coopera- 
tion on the part of the social agencies in the Federation will 
solve the problem, remains to be seen. Perhaps a com- 
bination of all these resources will be necessary to maintain 
and develop the shops. That-the actual net sales of the 
shops during 1924 amounted to more than $87,000 without 
any selling cost to the shops is the finest tribute to the 
loyal group of volunteers and friends of the shops. 


- Another problem which the Industrial Shops must face 
sooner or later, the importance of which cannot be over- 
estimated, is the problem. of placing its trainees. While 
training for industry is only one of several aims of the 
Shops* and while the success or failure of the entire enter- 
prise cannot and should not be judged on this one phase 
of its work, its importance must not be overlooked. The 
proper placement of “the graduates” not only will com- 
plete the task of the shop but it may prevent a feeling of 
another form of dependency on the part of the trainees, and 
will reduce the working population in the shops thus making 
them available to a larger number of persons in need of these 
special facilities. It is not conceivable that the Shops will 
ever be able to accommodate all of the people needing them 
at any given time. By keeping in the Shops persons who 


*See page 143. 
161 


could work in industry, others, more in need of this 
facility, are denied the opportunity and the greatest ef- 
fectiveness of the Shops is thus hampered. 

Successful placement in industry requires first of all 
educating the employers to the realization that handicapped 
persons are usually more reliable and may be as efficient, 
and frequently are more efficient, provided they are pro- 
perly adjusted, than normal persons. Various experiments 
along these lines have been successfully conducted and 
there is ample proof of this contention, 

The responsibility of adjusting its trainees to industry 
must be assumed by the Shops or its agent. Successful 
adjustment requires careful study of the conditions prevail- 
ing in the industry in relation to the handicaps of the per- 
sons to be adjusted. Careful follow-up must also be under- 
taken in order that the periods of discouragement and de- 
pression which are bound to arise in the beginning may be 
successfully bridged over. Already we have to our debit a 
failure on the part of one of our men, who was at first 
remarkably successful, because we were too certain of our 
success and failed in the follow-up. This person, a painter 
by trade, had not worked for a long time after being dis- 
charged from a sanitarium. for tuberculosis. It required 
months of the most careful thinking and planning to get 
him to work in the Shops at his trade, at first for a few 
hours per day, gradually increasing this through various 
incentives until he was working a full day. He was en- 
couraged to leave the Shops and was helped to secure a 
job for himself in which he employed two assistants. He 
was successful for a little while, and became independent. 
We discontinued contact only to find, several months later, 
that he deserted his family because he could not carry 
himself across a period of unemployment which followed 
the discontinuation of our contact, with the result that all 
of our work in this case has gone to naught. 

In view of the importance of adjustment and follow-up 
for successful placement, it may be questioned whether this 
work can be done through any other agency than the Shops, 
because of the interest in and knowledge of the client which 
are necessary. While the Shops must be open minded on 
this question and must give the existing placement agency 
a fair trial at it, they must watch this effort with the greatest 
care because of its great importance to the entire enterprise. 


162 


Still another problem which the Shops must face in 
the near future is the need for making some provision for 
those who are suffering or recuperating from tuberculosis. 
The Shops have been obliged to draw the line at em- 
ploying persons who were suffering or at one time suffered 
from any contagious disease. This is not so much be- 
cause of the problem of proper sterilization, difficult as that 
may be, as because of the danger to the whole enterprise 
if it became known in the community that such persons 
are employed in the Shops. This is not an idle fear. A 
rumor had gotten about that T. B. patients are working in 
the Shops and the volunteer sales force insisted on a state- 
ment from the authorities as to whether this report was 
true or false because of the effect it was having on the 
community. Another complicating feature is the attitude 
of the workers in the shop. It is safe to say that they 
would refuse to work by the side of people whom they would 
know to be tuberculous or as discharged from tuberculosis 
institutions. Nor can the Shops afford to assume the re- 
sponsibility for such mingling. Nevertheless the problem 
of employment for the T. B. patient is a serious one with 
the J. S. S. B., and must be handled in connection with the 
Shops. 

It is well known that after several months of idleness in 
a Sanitarium, patients come out with very little desire to go 
to work. Not only must provision be made for them when 
they are discharged but they must be given training and 
employment suited to their particular needs while still in 
the sanitarium. It would be comparatively easy to es- 
tablish a branch of the Shops in Winfield Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium to care for the occupational needs of the pa- 
tients while there. In fact this was part of the plan for 
extending the Shops to meet the general needs of the Jew- 
ish community. But the problem of caring for the dis- 
charged patient is much more difficult and complicated. 
If segregation is necessary, (and it is fairly certain that this 
must be resorted to until such time as we are more certain 
of just what the dangers of infection are and until the com- 
munity is more enlightened on this matter), then the Shops 
must create a parallel organization for the tuberculous with 
as many facilities and types of occupations, with the neces- 
sarily larger overhead because of the comparatively smaller 
number of available workers and trainees. The problem 


163 


of selling this output may be much more difficult in 
such a shop than in the general shop, because of the unen- 
lightened public opinion on this subject. Indeed, it 1s very 
likely that the existence of such a shop under the same 
auspices, even though a separate institution, would do 
serious damage to the sale of the products of the general 
shops because the average purchaser would not be likely 
to differentiate between the two and would choose to be on 
the safe side by refusing to buy any of the products. 

However, as already indicated, the problem of the tuber- 
culous must be handled because it is just as much a prob- 
lem of the Bureau as is any other problem. It requires a 
solution because experience has taught us that some of the 
most difficult cases which the Bureau has to handle are ex- 
tubercular patients: Perhaps the solution les in the es- 
tablishment of a series of non-sectarian shops for all the 
tuberculous patients of Chicago. This may well be and if 
so the Jewish community will have to take the lead if only 
because it has seen the value of such an enterprise in its 
Industrial Shops. 

A resource such as the Industrial Shops represent, can 
become a hindrance just as they may be a great help to 
good case work. With the great pressure under which the 
case worker constantly finds herself, it is quite natural that 
the Shops should be thought of in connection with every 
puzzling problem, which she faces in which employment or 
vocational adjustment might be a solution. While it is 
desirable that the Shops should be used as a first rather than 
as a last resort, nevertheless, there is considerable danger 
of their being used as a catch-all or dumping ground. This 
would not only tend to weaken the case worker and the 
case work but has distinct dangers for the persons placed 
in the Shops. It should not be forgotten that the Shops 
give employment under sheltered conditions. To people 
not physically or mentally handicapped but suffering per- 
haps from a tendency to go along the line of least resist- 
ance, a very common failing in humans, the Shops can 
be just as definite a danger to those not needing them as 
they are a help to those really in need of this type of cure. It 
is important, therefore, that the thinking and case work 
should be of the very best before placement in the Shops 
is resorted to. Wherever a satisfactory adjustment out- 
side of the Shops can be made, they should not be resorted 


164 


to, or, the best possibilities of the enterprise will not be 
realized. 

It may perhaps not be amiss to attempt here an evalua- 
tion of the Industrial Shops on the basis of our experience 
with them thus far. It is of course too early to hazard a 
complete and final statement of their value. It may be 
said, however, that there can be no question of the great 
value of this means of adjusting persons maladjusted vo- 
cationally and socially. Whether the handicaps be physical, 
mental or social,* the Shops have been of equal value in 
overcoming them. People who have not worked for many 
years have learned to work there and are very much hap- 
pier because of the diversion. Others who were on, the 
road to pauperization have been saved and completely re- 
habilitated through the Shops. Impostors on the Jewish 
Social Service Bureau have been checked and their dis- 
honesty was brought to light because for the first time the 
Bureau has been able to test out the claims of people that 
they are willing to work but lack the opportunity to do so. 
At the same time, the Shops have been a means for treat- 
ing neurasthenic and psychasthenic persons who would 
have deteriorated without this facility. 

Financially, the Shops have meant a great saving to the 
Jewish Social Service Bureau. Not only has the organiza- 
tion saved the greatest portion of the $35,000 paid out in 
wages which would have been expended in relief but numer- 
ous men and women were kept from becoming “relief cases” 
because of the Industrial Shops. Some left the shops after 
working there but a short time without requiring or receiv- 
ing relief because their work and earning capacity was 
established; others, who were undoubtedly malingerers, 
refused to work in the shops or insisted on so high a wage 
as to make it reasonably certain that they had other sources 
of income. One of these, a peddler, who claims to be mak- 
ing only ten or twelve dollars a week and whose earnings 
had been supplemented by the organization for several 
years, refused to work in the shops unless he were paid at 
the rate of twenty-five dollars per week. He was offered 
twelve dollars per week while he would learn the cobbling 
trade and he was told that his earnings would be sup- 
plemented according: to the budget. This he stubbornly 


*See table 19, for types of handicapped employed in the shops, 
page 166. 


165 


TABLE 19 


TYPES OF HANDIGAPPED EMPLOYED IN@ THE 
IND@sT RIAL SHOPS 


Disability* Total 
Arrested: “PDC yt tet oS ee ie ee 2 
Tbe.) Spitie seek oo on el ee ee 1 
Rheurnatistins sete nto, oe eee ee 3 
CISteOariniriismee ats. s+ sce AE Maia) es 1 
Diabetes gee ce esl) ee 2 
Aneitiia Peete sik ols) Mens role eae ee 1 
Elyperthyvraidisni.. 2. ok eee sae: 1 
Mmotionalgiistability 2220e ee eee PBR stnide eB 1 
BeebleaMinded) 15 0)....202, oi eee ee eee Z 
MaALSACFUStINENE 1.0.1 ueee We, yee Ae ee 4 
Merntalo Detective isi) eee ee 9 
Manic? Deéepressive.\ 5) ee ee ee 4 
Mentalthetardation ).2.0 5 ee eee 2 
Neurasthenia:®. ./ 212...) oe oes ee ee 6 
IN @UIROS15 oc. 6 tated 22, bcc yh cere ee ee 4 
Psyehor Necrosis toc) ee ee eee 1 
Psychasthetiiai.:.2.:.5... 0 nee ee = eee ee + 
Epilepisy wets 5, iacck eS ie ee i 
Batre ha Oi oe sae: 2), SO ee re ae ee 8 
Neate Blitidh sayy ik i eae ee ee ee 2 
Car dig ee ie ee es ee 16 
Varieosé’ Veins, S27.) Seas oie ee er) eee ee 2 
(SOLS) chit te oa ae ae a ie gon ce ne ee 1 
Nephritigieg 2 0s. 20s ee eeenur ee te oar eee ere eee 1 
Grinbled ) poke. eee te tek Aes 5 ee ee 4 
Pes. Plannis igs tee ret hia ree ke ee eee 1 
Mya bei a fire eee hg CE sa RA re ee ae ere 1 
Octal | Wa ie ete eee eee eee 27 


*Disabilities are arranged in accordance with International Code. 


166 


refused to accept until the worker became suspicious and 
forced the admission from him that he had been making 
approximately twenty-five dollars per week during the 
entire time. If not for the shops, the worker could not 
have forced the issue because there is no way in which 
peddlers’ earnings can be verified. 

Another case illustrating the possibilities of the shops, 
in preventing imposition on the J. S. S. B. is that of the 
C. family.* 

“Mr. C., 32 years old, and his family, consisting of Mrs. 
C. and four young children have been assisted intermittently 
and “reculariwepyathes momo wb ston a period of over ten 
years. Illness of the wife, unemployment, bad luck in 
business, and finally his own bad health, were the various 
causes of distress given by him on application. 

 chetlatterscause* took, fim tow Calitortia;and at’ his 
request his fanuly was sent by the J..5. Ss. Bisto join him 
there. They soon became dissatisfied with this arrange- 
ment, and demanded return transportation under threats 
of suicide, so that this too had to be granted. 

“Upon returning to Chicago the man went to the Muni- 
cipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, claiming illness, and re- 
mained there seven months under observation. He was 
finally discharged with the statment of ‘no findings and able 
to work.’ The same opinion was rendered at the Michael 
Reese Dispensary, but Mr. ©. was at variance with this 
opinion and was therefore sent through the Diagnostic Clin- 
ic,* where he was diagnosed as a mental defective and psy- 
cho-neurotic, acknowledged as incapacitated for work, and 
treated by a psychiatrist for a period of five months. 
Throughout that period the family received a regular al- 
lowance from the organization. 

“When pronounced by the psychiatrist as able to work, 
Mr. C. stayed away from the organization for a very short 
period, and reapplied on pretext of a new physical illness 
which was again observed medically, with the result of ‘no 
findings.’ 

“The man was then referred, as a last resort, to the In- 
dustrial Shops but he refused to work there. After a good 
deal of unsuccessful effort to induce him to go to the shops, 


*Quotations taken from a statement prepared by Mrs. Luba 
Lazareff, Supervisor of District 3. _ 


167 


relief was discontinued in the face of a great deal of pres- 
sure brought by the man through various organizations and 
individuals in the community. It was finally discovered 
that he had been employed throughout the entire period of 
his treatment by the psychiatrist on a part time basis. It 
was because of this that he did not find it profitable to 
enter the Industrial Shops.” 

‘If the worker did not have the Industrial Shops to test 
this man it is fairly certain that his duplicity would not 
have been discovered especially since he was able to fool 
even the psychiatrist. 

The following statement of our experience with Mary 
K. and the final solution of her problem through the Diag- 
nostic Clinic and the Industrial Workshops will serve to 
illustrate the more positive value of these facilities for case 
work.* . 

“Mary has been ill most of her life, suffering from 
chorea with a heart complication, and as a consequence has 
done very little work.” 

Between December 1915 and August 1923, when the 
workers decided that a change in treatment was necessary, 
she spent the greater portion of her life in hospitals and 
dispensaries. Her medical history indicates almost con- 
tinuous contact with medical agencies.** 


*Quotations taken from a statement prepared by Miss Irene 
Schwarzman, Supervisor of District 5. 


***Tyecember, 1915, Cook County Hospital—diagnosis; chorea. Discharged 
February 9, 1916. 

“November, 1916, operated on nose at Cook County Hospital for sinus 
infection. 

“December, 1916, Cook County Hospital for treatment for sinus infection. 
Also diagnosis of chorea and mitral stenosis. January, 1917, she was sent 
to Michael Reese Hospital and later to Rest Haven. 

“May 15, 1917, nose re-operated upon at Cook County Hospital. 6-8-17, 
sent to Lake Geneva, but returned 6-20-17, ill with rheumatism. 

“Was at Presbyterian Hospital from November, 1918, to April, 1919. Was 
transferred to Grove House. 

“March 27, 1919, she was operated upon at Presbyterian Hospital for 
chronic appendicitis and discharged April. 24th. 

“August 6, 1919, again entered Presbyterian Hospital. Diagnosis, chorea 
and rheumatism. 

‘February 5, 1920, Medical social worker advises that physician at Presby- 
terian Hospital suspects that the complications were due to an infection at the 
base of the brain. 

**8-5-20, discharged from Presbyterian Hospital and sent to Grove House. 

**9.9-20, went to Rest Haven of her own accord. 

“9-30-20, she again became ill and was sent to St. Luke’s Hospital, dis- 
charged 3-4-21. Diagnosis—chorea and cardiac condition. 

“October, 1921, admitted to Wesley Hospital. Physician advised that she 
had been running a temperature for some time and she received hospitalization 
for observation. He stated that she may have a hemorrhage of the brain at 
any time. Discharged 1-16-22. 

“8-10-22, admitted to Rest Haven upon the recommendation of Michael Reese 


168 


“In August of 1923, when the dispensary again reported 
that Mary be allowed to rest, the District decided that 
although a definite diagnosis had been received, they were 
making no progress and Mary was fast becoming recon- 
ciled to leading a life of invalidism. She spent much of 
her time talking of her ills and of the gloomy future in 
store for her. She was encouraged in this attitude by her 
family and especially by her sister Jane, two years younger, 
who also is suffering from chorea complicated by a heart 
and stomach condition, which have totally incapacitated 
her for work. 

“On November 12, 1923, Mary started her examination 
in the Diagnostic Clinic. Her cooperation was perfect and 
on November 22nd, her case came up for discussion before 
the Group. It was decided that she be hospitalized for 
treatment for chorea. It was found that her heart con- 
_ dition was such as not to be considered a handicap. She 
entered Michael Reese Hospital on December 10th, and 
remained there until April 23rd, 1924. On May Ist, her 
case again came before the Group. The diagnosis was— 
double mitral lesion, (double valvular lesion) and chorea 
(St. Vitus Dance.) Her heart condition was found to be 
well compensated but the chorea had not improved appre- 
ciably. The physician, who observed her at the hospital 
during her entire stay there and who was present at the 
diagnostic meeting, was of the opinion that she might be 
malingering; although her shaking was very violent, many 
of the symptoms of a true chorea were not present. . After 
being told of his findings, the Group decided that some 
occupation at the Shops be insisted upon in spite of her 
physical condition. No further medical treatment was 
thought necessary. 

“Mary did not look with favor upon her admission to 


Hospital. Physician of Rest Haven advised that patient was suffering from 
a double heart lesion. Discharged November, 1922. 

““(2-8-22, referred to Michael Reese Dispensary with background history. 
Diagnosis—mitral regurgitation—no chorea at present—prognosis fair. 

“5.3-23, Mary referred to Michael Reese Dispensary for re-examination. The 
doctor advised rest. 

“5-15-23, report from Michael Reese Dispensary—Diagnosis; mitral regurgi- 
tation. She has lost weight and appears quite nervous. Physician recom- 
mended rest and sojourn in the country. 

“726-23, turbinectomy performed at Central Free Dispensary. 

*8.1-23, report from Michael Reese Dispensary in which it was recommended 
that the patient continue to rest. 

““8.6-23, report from Michael Reese Dispensary. Recommended that the 
diagnosis was mitral regurgitation. Heart well compensated. Patient to be 
allowed to rest a few weeks longer. 


169 


the Shops as she considered herself a very sick girl and 
backed up this argument by saying that she would not 
have been kept in the hospital four months had there not 
been a good cause for such confinment. However, the 
worker after accompanying her on a visit of inspection to 
the Shops, finally persuaded her to enter. An application 
was sent in stating her preference as general office work. 
The Shops were able to give her work in the office four 
hours daily. She entered the Shops the middle of June and 
has adjusted herself remarkably well. She likes her work 
and is happier than she has been for years. 

“In a conference with the manager and her supervisor 
in the Shops on August 2l1st., it was learned that Mary’s 
shaking had subsided and almost entirely disappeared. Her 
work was found to be most satisfactory. It was decided to try 
her for two weeks at full time and if this experiment 
proved successful to give her a regular position at full time 
sometime after the middle of September. 

“The following report was received on September /th, 
1924, from Mary’s supervisor in the Shops: 

“ “Miss K. has been with the Industrial Workshops since 
June 19th, working on an average of four hours per day. 
I have found her very satisfactory and very willing to help 
in any department. When she first came I noticed consider- 
able twitching, especially when she realized that she was 
being observed. However, I think it has almost entirely 
disappeared. One day last week I saw her on the street 
car. I sat where I could observe her without her knowledge 
and could not see any twitching at all. This morning I 
sat opposite her for a full half hour, she being unaware of 
the fact that I was watching her, as I was talking about her 
work and so far as I could observe she was absolutely normal 
—no twitching of any kind. In the last two weeks she has 
been working full time—from 9 to 5 with an hour for 
lunch, for which she was earning $15.00 per week. I think 
we will be able to use her full time after October Ist.’ ” 

“Mary has been working full time since October, 1924. 
Her work is very satisfactory and she has proven herself 
quite valuable to the Shops. She has had no recurrence of 
her attacks and is more happy and hopeful than she has 
been ever since we have known her. She has expressed 
herself to the effect that just as soon as she feels a little 
surer of herself, she hopes to enter industry so that she can 


170 


make more money. There is no doubt in our minds that 
she will be adjusted outside of the Shops in the course of 
a short time.” 

Lack of space does not permit citing other cases where 
the shops have been the means of rehabilitating handi- 
capped persons and preventing others from taking advan- 
tage of the organization and becoming handicapped. How- 
ever, it may be safely said that the Industrial Shops have 
reduced our relief expenditures to a very considerable ex- 
tent, have been a very positive influence in the improvement 
of our case work, and were the direct means of bringing 
happiness and joy to people who were miserable and un- 


happy. 


70a 


SECTION =13. 


SOME WHO MADE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 


Co-operating Agencies 


An agency such as the J. S. S. B., touches almost every 
phase of organized community life. Consequently, its con- 
tacts with the other organizations in the community must be 
frequent and in many cases most intimate. ‘These contacts 
are so numerous that only the most important co-operating 
agencies can be mentioned here. We shall first consider 
the Jewish agencies within the Federation, then the Jew- 
ish agencies outside of the Jewish Charities, and finally the 
city wide non-sectarian organizations. 


Jewish Organizations Within the Jewish Charities. Of 
the Jewish agencies in the Federation, the Michael Reese 
Dispensary and the Michael Reese Hospital have been most 
frequently called upon by us for service. ‘This is especially 
true of the Dispensary because we have hardly a client 
in our various departments who does not at one time or 
another come in contact with the Dispensary at our re- 
quest. As indicated elsewhere* our contact has been most 
friendly and the service which we have been receiving from 
the Dispensary has improved immeasurably in the last few 
years, so that it is infinitely superior to what it was before 
1919. Adequate medical service is indispensable to good 
case work and neither the intensive case work nor the results 
of this work elsewhere described,** would have been pos- 
sible without the wholehearted co-operation of the medical 
agencies. This co-operation they gave us willingly and we 
pride ourselves on the cordial relationship which has existed 
between the two organizations. The same may be said 
of the Michael Reese Hospital although our contacts with 
it are less frequent than with the Dispensary. 

The agency with which the J. S. S. B. has the next 
largest number of contacts is the Jewish Home finding 
Society. These contacts, though numerous, have not always 
been entirely satisfactory because of the differing points of 
view between the child care and the family case workers. 

The last few years have seen a peculiar reversal of atti- 


*See page 33 ff. 
**See section 3. 


172 


tude on the part of these two groups. Five or ten years ago, 
the family case worker insisted on keeping families intact 
regardless of how poor the home care was, on the ground 
that the poorest natural home is better than the best foster 
home. - The child care worker, on the other hand, felt that 
a good foster home and sometimes even a good institution 
is better than a poor natural home. In the last few years, 
both groups reversed their positions. Today, the family 
case worker who has obtained a deeper insight and a 
keener understanding of the influence of good and bad en- 
vironment on character formation, is frequently only too 
ready to remove children from what they consider to be 
undesirable home influences. The child care worker, too, 
has obtained a finer appreciation of home life because she 
has seen the effects of institutional and foster home care 
and she holds that the poorest natural home is better than 
a good institution or a foster home. Needless to say, both 
groups are thoroughly honest in their views. The older 
workers, especially those who have had the good fortune to 
engage in both types of work, know the limitations and ad- 
vantages of both kinds of homes, which gives them the 
balance and poise necessary to good case work thinking and 
planning. Unfortunately, this cannot be said to be true, at 
the present time, of most workers in either field. With the 
limited training and experience now the rule among case 
workers, they rarely have the. maturity and perspective 
which would make it possible for them to see the good and 
bad means of adjustment. Misunderstanding and occasional 
friction must be the result. Only a more adequate and a 
broader preparation for social work can eliminate the fac- 
tional strife now consuming so large a part of the energies 
of the social workers in the respective fields. It is, there- 
fore, a pleasure to be able to say that during the last few 
months, the relationship of the two organizations has been 
. most pleasant. The differences of opinion and methods are 
eradually being worked out and a mutually helpful co- 
working relationship has been established. 

The Jewish Free Employment Bureau is another agency 
with which the J. S. S. B. has frequent contact. The em- 
ployment Bureau, doing a general placement work, has not 
been able to concentrate on the problem of placing the 
J. S. S. B. clients who are especially difficult to place. They 
have been giving us the best service possible for them. But 


173 


their work has always been so heavy in relation to their 
staff that the specialization necessary for our particular 
problem has not been possible. ‘This service is of the great- 
est importance to the Bureau. We have consistently re- 
frained from doing any placement on our own account be- 
cause of our fear of weakening the Employment Bureau by 
so doing, even assuming that we would be successful where 
they with their greater experience and wider contacts 
failed. It would more than pay for the J. 5. S. B. to place 
a worker in the Employment Bureau to handle the J. S. 
S. B. clients because of the saving which that would mean. 
This, however, seems to be unsound from a community 
standpoint, and the Jewish Charities would be wise and far 
sighted, if it made it possible for the Employment Bureau 
to concentrate on the J. S. S. B. problems by adding to its 
budget so that additional staff may be engaged for this 
purpose. 

The J. S. S. B. has also had most cordial relationship 
with the other agencies in the Jewish Charities, such as the 
Winfield Tuberculosis Sanitarium, with which we have a 
great deal of contact because of common problems; the 
Women’s Loan Association which administers the Johannah 
Lodge Fund whereby J. S. S. B. clients may secure loans 
without guarantors, the loans being guaranteed by the 
Bureau without the clients’ knowledge; and finally, the 
Marks Nathan Jewish Orphans’ Home and the Chicago 
Home for Jewish Orphans. 7 

The subject of our relations with the constituent soci- 
eties of the Jewish Charities cannot be discussed without 
at least mentioning the cordial relationship which has ex- 
isted between the J. S. S. B. and the parent organization— 
the Jewish Charities of Chicago. The readiness of the 
officers and especially, the Executive Director, to listen to 
and participate in any plans for the improvement of 
the service which we were in position to make because of our 
many community contacts, made our efforts not only more 
effective than they would have been otherwise, but made 
our work a pleasure. 

City Wide Jewish Organizations Outside of the Federa- 
tion. Of the Jewish organizations not included in the Jew- 
ish Charities, the J.:S. S. B. has the most contacts with the 
Jewish People’s Institute, one the Chicago Hebrew 
Institute. 


174 


Before 1920, the Institute charged us for the tuition 
and supplies used by our clients who were sent to the 
Institute by us. This meant that only a small propor- 
tion of those of our clients who needed the facilities of the 
Institute could take advantage of them. This situation 
was presented to the superintendent and a special committee 
of the Institute, with the result that all fees were remitted 
and the doors of the Institute were opened wide for the 
clients of the Bureau without charge. The Institute is 
losing a good deal of money each year by this arrangement, 
but it is making its facilities available to that portion of the 
population mostly in need of them. We have made free 
use of the classes, clubs, gymnasia and the other activities of 
the Institute. Our Boys’ and Girls’ Departments have been 
especially fortunate in having this outlet. The Districts, 
too, have used the Institute for their children and adults. 
The visiting housekeepers held their cooking classes in the 
west and northwest branches of the Institute and we have 
been waiting impatiently for the branch which is to be built 
in the Lawndale section of the city, not only because we 
want to establish a housekeeping center there, but because 
we have frequently been brought face to face with the need 
for some such agency as the Institute, in that section of the 
city. The Institute has also made available its Girls’ Camp 
for a number of our girls each summer without charge. In 
every other way has it been eager to extend to us the 
courtesies of its many activities and we are happy to say 
that we have taken advantage of them freely. The relation- 
ship between the two organizations has been as cordial as 
possible, not only because of the friendship of the respective 
executives, but also because there is a considerable inter- 
change of staff, since a large number of our staff members 
are teaching in the elmentary and high school classes of the 
Institute. 

Of the non-federated organizations in the Jewish com- 
munity, the Eisendrath Foundation, no doubt, had the most 
profound influence on the work of the organization. The 
plan, aims, and scope of work of the Eisendrath Foundation 
have been set forth elsewhere.* Nor does space permit a 
detailed statement of the work of the Foundation here. It 


*See Report on the Eisendrath Foundation prenared hy the 
J. S. S. B. in 1922. Also the Jewish Social Service Quarterly, De- 
cember, 1924. 


175 


must suffice*to say that the funds of the Foundation estab- 
lished by Mr. and Mrs. B. D. Ejisendrath, were made 
available to the Relief Department in October 1919, for 
supplementing the budgets of a number of families for 
the purpose of correcting malnutrition in children. This 
plan was chosen rather than the one of establishing 
a home to which the: children might be sent for the 
same purpose, because it was believed that supplement- 
ing the incomes and doing intensive case work with the 
families at the same time would be productive of more 
lasting good for the entire family than the removal of the 
children from the home. The experimental period of two 
years expired the latter part of 1921, and a careful study 
was made of the results of the work with the eleven families 
and 57 children supplemented during the two years. This 
study and the periodic reviews of the cases coming within 
the scope of work of the Foundation during and after the 
experiment, served to focus the attention of the organiza- 
tion on the more subtle social and psychological factors, 
inherent in most case work situations, to a remarkable 
degree. The contribution of the Eisendrath Foundation to 
the development of good case work standards can hardly 
be over estimated. The study, which was the first attempt 
at a critical and objective evaluation of the work of the 
organization, was by no means entirely complimentary to 
the organization. But it called the attention of the workers 
to the dangers of family tensions resulting from intensive 
case work, the strain on the family of too close supervision, 
the danger of raising standards of families to a point where 
they cannot maintain them, thus inducing permanent de- 
pendency, etc. The study, and especially the attempt at 
correcting the malnutrition of the children, brought the 
problem of child health and care to the attention of the 
worker to a degree never before equalled. And finally, the 
Foundation served to make the Bureau conscious of its 
responsibility for the health of the children in its families 
so that it assumed the responsibility of providing special 
diets to the extent of spending about $1,000 per month for 
this item. 

The Foundation has been more than worth while in the 
indirect benefits which it brought to the Jewish Community 
in, general, and the Jewish Social Service Bureau in par- 
ticular. It is now ready to undertake a new piece of work. 


176 


We have urged it to undertake an intensive and extensive 
study of child care in the Jewish community of Chicago in 
conjunction with the Research Bureau of the Jewish Chari~ 
ties. As these lines are being written, there is a strong pos- 
sibility of this suggestion being carried out. If that be so, 
the Foundation has the opportunity of making another very 
much worth while contribution to the development of stan- 
dards in child care in the Jewish community of Chicago. 

Some of the other non-federated Jewish agencies with 
which the Bureau is co-operating and which are making a 
worthwhile contribution to its work are: the Council of 
Jewish Women which conducts a camp for Mothers and 
School children at Waucanda, Illinois; the Jewish Scholar- 
ship Committee which has been doing a most excellent and 
worth while work in providing scholarships for Jewish boys 
and girls who might otherwise not be able to continue their 
schooling, a work by the way, which should be extended 
to reach the “average”’ child instead of the especially gifted 
or especially handicapped child, because it is from the group 
commonly called “average children” that the largest pro- 
portion of the maladjusted persons comes; the Sunset Lodge 
Camp Committee which maintains a camp at Sunset Lodge, 
a most beautiful spot providing what must be a never-to-be- 
forgotten experience for most of the girls fortunate enough 
to spend two weeks there; and finally, the Young Men’s 
Jewish Charities, previously mentioned in connection with 
the Legal Aid Department, and deserving mention here 
because of the boys’ Camp which they maintain. With all 
of these and other agencies, too numerous to mention, the 
contact of the Bureau has been most pleasant and each of 
them has its own particular contribution to make to the 
improvement of living conditions for the economically dis- 
advantaged Jews of Chicago. 

One effort which deserves special mention here because 
of the possible far-reaching effects which it may have, is 
the attempt of the Conference of Jewish Women’s Clubs to 
organize the smaller, independent relief societiesyof which 
there are so many in Chicago. ‘This effort was started by 
Miss Minnie F. Low, at our suggestion, as her first task 
of community organization after leaving the Bureau of Per- 
sonal Service. 

In this effort, she had the wholehearted co-operation of 
Mrs. Ignace J. Reis, at that time President of the Confer- 


177 


ence. The effort came to full fruition, however, under the 
administration of Mrs. Abe Simon, who followed Mrs. Reis 
as President of the Conference. The smaller organizations 
usually calling themselves “Immediate Relief Society,” or 
by some other such name, though well-meaning and seek- 
ing to be of service to the poor, are in reality, a pernicious 
and pauperizing influence in the Jewish Community. Their 
work is in most cases loose, slipshod, hyper-emotional and 
frequently lacks every element essential to sound and con- 
structive social service. They pride themselves on “giy- 
ing charity without asking questions” although they know 
that in the vast majority of cases, they are duplicating each 
other’s efforts and all of them are interfering with the work 
of the Social Service Bureau. These groups were called 
together by the Conference, organized and encouraged to 
clear their cases among themselves and were asked to clear 
them with the Social Service Bureau... They were ap- 
proached with the assumption that they are eager to be of 
service and that while some of them want the satisfaction 
and recognition to be derived from holding office, most of 
them are really honest and give of their funds in a genuine 
desire to be helpful to their less fortunate fellow beings. 
After three years or more of the most devoted efforts 
on the part of Mrs. Simon, most of the groups are now 
convinced that they are not doing a very important or worth 
while piece of work. Although Mrs. Simon did not aim at 
this, the fact remains,and they recognize it now, that there 
is no need for their work in the Jewish community. If they 
are to do the work along modern lines, the Jewish Social 
Service Bureau, with its trained staff and effective organiza- 
tion can do the same work, and is doing it as a matter of fact, 
infinitely better than they can ever hope to do it. It is 
now a struggle for existence with them and they are plead- 
ing for a programme of work which should require their 
energies and keep the interest of their members. We have 
been unable to convince them as a body to pieces of work 
which we suggested to them. Only one organization, the 
Lawndale Ladies’ Aid, one of the largest of these organiza- 
tions, has had the courage, thanks to its president, Mrs. 
Fred Abrams, to throw overboard its old methods of work. 
It has frankly acknowledged its failure and has undertaken 
to supplement the Bureau budgets in given families. The 
other two score or more organizations, have not as yet been 


178 


able to gather up the courage to admit what they know to 
be the truth. Unless the business men, from whom they 
solicit their funds, recognize the waste, futility and dis- 
astrous effects of the work of these organizations and refuse 
to be imposed upon any longer, there is little hope. It is 
possible that their able leader may still convince them that 
they should follow in the path of the Lawndale Ladies 
Aid. Until then, they will probably continue to do the 
mischief which they are about, although they are more 
cautious now, realizing as they do that their days are num- 
bered. It should be admitted, however, that they represent 
a challenge to us to find some way to utilize the tremendous 
amount of energy which their membership has and which 
they want to devote to a “worthy cause.” Unfortunately 
they educated their members to feeding upon thrills derived 
from sob-stories of poor starving families, and they frankly 
admit that they cannot hold their membership unless they 
continue along the same lines. Any suggestion for con- 
structive service which does not offer this opportunity, is 
therefore unacceptable to them. 

Greater success has attended our efforts at discouraging 
promiscuous giving on the part of other groups. Each 
holiday season, whether Chanucah, Thanksgiving or Christ- 
mas, would bring hundreds of requests for the names of 
families for holiday baskets. As early as 1920, we deter- 
mined to discontinue this dangerous practice for the sake 
of the families involved. Although we appreciated the 
spirit which prompts this generosity, we nevertheless re- 
fused to subject our families to the demoralizing experience 
of receiving holiday baskets in the full sight of the entire 
neighborhood. We explained to the would-be givers the 
dangers of this method of distribution and a good many who 
saw the situation in its true light, gave us the money to use 
for the families as a special allowance for the holiday. The 
outstanding organization in this respect is the Temple 
Sholom Sisterhood which abandoned its practice of giving 
Chanucah baskets and uses its funds for the purpose of re- 
furnishing the homes of our clients where growing children 
require better living conditions than we can. easily afford. 
They have been doing this for several years to their and 
our entire satisfaction and are accomplishing excellent re- 
sults. Another organization which utilizes the holiday spirit 
intelligently, is the Good Fellow Club, which sends us a 


179 


good deal of knitted goods, through its leader, Mr. Leo 
Sanger, each Christmas season. Other organizations and 
individuals are beginning to recognize the value of doing 
their special holiday giving through the regularly con- 
stituted agencies which are in a position to see that the 
gifts go to those most in need of them and where they are 
likely to do the most good. General recognition of this 
fact will go a long way toward making the family case 
work agencies more effective. 

Co-operation with City Wide Non-Sectarian Organi- 
zations. Of the non-sectarian City wide organizations, our 
contacts with the Chicago Council of Social Agencies have 
been most frequent. The Council of Social Agencies has come 
to play a very important role in the social service activities 
of our community and its various committees touch every 
phase of social work. The J. S.S. B. is represented on most 
of the committees of the Council and we have taken our 
share in promoting and developing the various activities 
in which all social agencies in the city are interested. The 
J. S. S. B. is represented thru its superintendent, or some 
other representative, on the following committees: (a) The 
Committee on Family Social work, which issues the Nesbit 
Budget, for dependent families, directed and published Nels 
Anderson’s Study of “The Hobo,” and is now engaged in 
two studies, one on Street Begging in Chicago, and the 
other on the Relation of Income of Main Wage Earners to 
Family Needs; (b) the Committee on Mental Health which 
is concerned with the care of the feeble minded and insane 
in the State institutions. This Committee was responsible 
for a study undertaken by the Institute of Juvenile Re- 
search, on the Extent of Feeble-mindedness in the State of 
Illinois; (c) committee on Boys’ Work and the Committee 
on Girls’ Work, the function of these committees being to. 
co-ordinate the work being done for boys and girls in the 
city; (d) Legislative Committee—which reviews all the 
social legislation proposed in the State Legislature before 
enactment and either endorses or opposes the bills sub- 
mitted for enactment; (e) Joint Workshops Committee— 
aiming at organizing for the general community an organi- 
zation similar to our Industrial Workshops, our own ex- 
perience in this field having made it possible for us to be 
of considerable service to the community in this respect; 


180 


(f{) other special committees which are organized from time 
to time. 

Our organization is also iets sda on various com- 
mittees of the City Club which are concerned with civic 
and social service problems. 

Our relationship with the United Charities has been 
most cordial. he two organizations have been helpful to 
each other wherever possible. At one time, we hoped that 
a joint study would be undertaken by the United Charities 
and ourselves with funds made available by the Wieboldt 
Foundation. Because of the many problems which we 
have in common with the United Charities, such a study 
should prove most helpful for comparative purposes. Un- 
fortunately, the time was not auspicious for such a study 
until now. 

The J. S. S. B. has also received most active and excel- 
lent co-operation from the non-sectarian medical agencies, 
and the Mental Hygiene Clinics. This is especially true of 
the Mental Hygiene Clinic of the University of Illinois, the 
Illinois Mental Hygiene Society, and the Institute for Ju- 
venile Research. These three institutions have been fre- 
quently called upon by us in our numerous problems and 
have placed their entire resources at our disposal. It is 
extremely unfortunate that the Institute for Juvenile Re- 
search cannot be more certain of its budget and future than 
it has been in the last few years. If its Director and staff 
could be given the economic security essential to good work, 
there is no doubt that they could make some very important 
contributions to the treatment of behavior problems. The 
community owes it to its childhood to give the Institute a 
permanent lease on life so that it may freely devote itself 
to the scientific problems which it is endeavoring to solve. 

Our contact with the University of Chicago has been 
especially cordial. As elsewhere indicated, we have a large 
number of University of Chicago graduates on our staff. 
The departments of Sociology and Social Service Admini- 
' stration have been as helpful as possible to us. The mem- 
bers of the Department of Sociology have sent us their 
students for work and study and they were always ready 
to give of their time and energy to help us solve such 
problems as we brought to them. We, on our part, made 
available to the students and faculty of the department, the 
rich sociological material contained in our files. The same 


181 


is true of the Graduate School of Social Service Admini- 
stration and its predecessor, the Chicago School of Civics 
and Philanthropy. During the last three years, we offered 
a number of scholarships for junior and senior Jewish stu- 
dents in the School of Social Service Administration who 
chose Jewish. Social Service as a profession. We also secured 
a graduate fellowship for the School from the Chicago Wo- 
men’s Aid. These efforts yielded some very excellent work- 
ers for our staff. 

The Wieboldt Foundation has been very generous to 
us during 1924, and repeated its generosity for 1925. It has 
made possible a study of about 1000 cases in 1924, and has 
appropriated sufficient funds for the completion and pub- 
lication of this study in 1925. Its generosity has also been 
helpful to us in meeting some special extra-budget needs in 
our Industrial Shops. 

Aside from the few agencies enumerated above, we had 
contact with a great many others which have a direct or in- 
direct bearing on and contribution for social work. ‘The 
municipal, county and state agencies engaged in social work 
have had our support and co-operation whenever we could 
be of help. Private organizations, other than those enumer- 
ated above, have co-operated with us and had, in turn, our 
co-operation so that it may be safely said that although we 
concentrated our main efforts on building up and perfect- 
ing our own organization, because we felt that that was 
our primary function, we always assumed our due share of 
the responsibility for the general community needs. This 
was done not only because of our interest in general com- 
munity welfare, but also because we felt that our own 
effectiveness depended, to a large degree, on general com- 
munity development. By first perfecting our own organiza- 
tion insofar as that could be done, we were in a position of 
special strength and advantage because it was generally 
known that we practiced what we preached. 


182 


SECTION 14. 


WHAT WE NEED FOR CONTINUED PROGRESS 


Future Needs and Recommendations 


If there is any value at all in the foregoing review, then 
it must be not alone in the recital of what has been accom- 
plished nor in the statement of the methods used for the 
results obtained (the treatment necessarily had to be brief 
and sketchy,) but also in the implications for future de- 
velopment and progress which our past experience holds. 
Insofar as this was feasible, it was aimed to include some 
statement of our future needs in each section of the review 
This section is written not because it is desired to repeat 
or emphasize the future needs, although these reasons, in 
themselves, would seem to justify this section, but rather 
because it is feared that but few persons will take the time 
to-plough thru the preceeding sections and gather from them 
the suggestions which they embody. It was felt therefore 
that a summary statement of needed future development is 
necessary although it may duplicate to some extent what has 
already been said in other connections. 

The writer is painfully aware of the many inadequacies 
and lacks in the J. S. S. B. of today. While we are not so 
modest as not to recognize that considerable advance has 
been made during the period covered in this review, we 
know also that in most instances we have made but the 
beginning and that in some instances we accomplished 
little more than to analyze our problems into their factors. 
To be sure, analysis and diagnosis are frequently the first 
steps and most essential steps to cure. However, cure is not 
always possible without most painful as well as painstaking 
operations. So it with us. Some of our needs for effective 
work may be fairly easily and inexpensively met. Others 
require rather thoroughgoing changes. Our only justifi- 
cation for asking for a careful consideration of our needs 
lies in the fact that the best development of the work de- 
mands that these needs be met. Furthermore, the organi- 
zation is basically very sound and will richly repay further 
expenditures in money and energy for its development. 
These needs, as we see them, may be summarized under 
six headings: 1. more adequate staff; 2. separation of dis- 
trict offices from the administration building; 3. special 


183 


psychiatric service; 4. more adequate medical service; 5. 
better child care; and 6. a department of research and study. 

1. More Adequate Staff. Perhaps the foremost need. 
of the J. S. S. B. is a larger staff so that the case count per 
worker may be reduced. We now have a staff of con- 
scientious, devoted and intelligent workers who are most 
eager to attack the problems which they are handling. Most 
of them have had a good educational background and a 
considerable number of them have had fairly good profes- 
sional preparation insofar as such preparation is obtainable 
at the present time. Not to give this type of staff the op- 
portunity to do the best that is in them is to waste most 
excellent opportunities for constructive social work. Yet 
this is precisely what is happening now. We have been 
aiming at a case count of 40 families per worker. However, 
the actual case count has usually been much nearer 50 and 
sometimes 60 than 40. It requires but little thought to 
realize the implications which so large a case count holds 
for case work. 

The case worker today is nothing like the “investigator” 
of former days. “Investigation” is only the first step in the 
process of case work. The case worker is held and holds 
herself responsible for all the problems coming up in, the 
families under her jurisdiction. More than that, she must 
anticipate and prevent problems which are likely to arise 
and she must meet and adjust the economic, health, educa- 
tional, recreational and social needs of every member in each 
of her families. Even 40 families, with an average of five 
persons to a family, makes 200 persons each of whom she 
must study, know, guide and help. The supervision of 200 
normal persons oisalil be a task impossible of accomplish- 
ment for most of us. What shall we say of the task of 
supervising 200 persons, most of whom, or at least a large 
proportion of whom, are abnormal in one way or another? 
Mothers having one child which is difficult nervously, or 
which offers difficult behavior problems, have been known 
to break down under the responsibility. How shall we 
compare to that the task and responsibility of the case 
worker who frequently handles scores of difficult children 
at the same time. If it should be said that the mother takes. 
a deeper interest in her child than does the social worker 
we can only counter by saying, that the good and true 
social worker is just as concerned about her charges as. - 


184 — 


are most parents because of the humane and professional 
elements involved. 

“But,” it will be asked, “how is it possible for any one 
person to carry all that responsibility?” This question is 
the key to the difficulty. It is not possible for one person to 
do all that, and it is not being done! It is not physically 
possible for the social worker to handle her problems with 
any degree of adequacy when she has a case count of 40, 
50, or 60. In fact most conscientious workers would almost 
prefer a case count of 60 or 70 to a case count of 50, because 
with the larger case count they cannot even be aware of the 
problems in their families, whereas in a case count of 40 
or 50 they may have the time for discovering a large num- 
ber of the problems without having the time to treat them. 
Unfortunately, no reliable information is available as to 
how large a case count a worker may be expected to carry 
without jeopardizing her health or the welfare of her 
families. Considerable research and study is necessary 
before an adequate answer can be given to this question. 
Until this question is more adequately answered, however, 
we should make it possible for the workers to concentrate 
on their problems to a greater degree by giving them a 
smaller number of cases to handle. 

Another factor which must be considered in relation to 
an adequate staff is the matter of initial and subsequent 
training for case work. The job of the case worker is 
primarily that of controlling and guiding human behavior. 
Frequently it becomes a problem of character building in 
addition to the problem of breaking down old habits and 
establishing new ones. Effective work along these lines 
can be done only if the worker is equipped with as much 
knowledge concerning the principles and mechanisms of 
human interaction in addition to having as rich a cultural 
background, as is obtainable in the best of our institutions. 
Unfortunately here, too, the difficulties are beyond our 
immediate control. Not only have the social sciences de- 
veloped comparatively little that is immediately applicable 
but even such materials as are available have not as yet 
been incorporated in most courses of study in our colleges 
and schools of social work. Bad as the situation is, even 
in the case of such persons as take special training for 
social work, it is much worse in the case of those who have 
had no more than the average course in arts and literature. 


185 


Nevertheless, we and other social agencies, are frequently 
forced to engage persons of such inadequate training because 
better trained persons are not available especially for field 
positions. 

Furthermore, people already in the work, should be 
given an opportunity for further study not only in order 
to make it possible for them to keep abreast of the times 
and to be able to take advantage of the newest developments 
and discoveries in the fields pertaining to their work but 
also because of the danger of their falling into a rut unless 
this stimulation comes to them. Most social workers, how- 
ever, cannot afford to take off the time from their work to go 
back to study and re-equip themselves. Also, they are 
usually too tired to get the best out of study after a day’s 
work. Their work is too straining mentally, nervously 
and physically for them to be able to put forth this addi- 
tional effort and gain sufficiently thereby to justify the ex- 
penditure of the energy. Does it.not seem natural, then, that 
the agency which is to benefit from the additional prepara- 
tion should pay.for it? Most universities make it possible for 
their staff members to engage in special study periodically. 
Why not social agencies? Social workers are certainly just 
as much in need of the most up-to-date information, per- 
taining to their work as are college instructors, if their 
work is to be effective! 

Finally, the matter of salaries and tenure of office. There 
is little question that the large turnover in social work 
today is due to low salaries, insecurity, comparatively low 
status, and lack of provision for old age. ‘That the large 
turnover is much more costly than adequate salaries would 
be is just as true in social work as it is in industry.* Why 
not apply the same “common sense” to social work that is 
being applied to a similar problem in industry? It certainly 
cannot be argued that the community is saving by paying 
its social workers low salaries any more than this could 
be argued in the case of large turnover in industry. The 
community pays and pays more dearly, in our humble 
judgment, in large turnover and in inadequate social work 
than it would by keeping its experienced and worthwhile 
workers. Nor can we expect the training, intelligence and 
ability which we seek in our social workers unless we are 


*See Section 7, page 103 :ff. 


186 


willing to offer at least a reasonable compensation for these 
qualities. Social workers do not ask nor do they expect, 
as arule, any very large share of the world’s goods for them- 
selves. They must have, however, a compensation which 
will enable them to live on a standard at least partially com- 
patible with their cultural interests. That this is not possible 
now for social workers, especially in the subordinate posi- 
tions, hardly needs proof or argument. 

Of equal importance, although less so immediately, is 
the need for some form of social insurance or some pension 
system such as is now available for college teachers. Only 
very few, if any, social workers can save enough from their 
salaries to enable them to view their future in advanced 
age with any degree of assurance. Their daily work brings 
them in close touch with the tragedies due to people’s fail- 
ure or inability to make such provision. Can we expect 
that those who are to have the wisdom necessary to guide 
and look after the future of others shall be so unwise as 
not to look after their own futures? Or shall we entrust 
the community wards to such persons as have not sufficient 
circumspection to provide adequately for their own future? 
Is it fair of communities to take the best years and energies 
of people without assuring them that they will have the 
means with which to meet their own wants when they shall 
no longer have the strength to carry on their work? Shall 
the communities be less just to and less considerate of their 
servants than the more enlightened industries are of their 
employes? Industry, competitive, impersonal and selfish 
industry, is finding it to its advantage to provide for its 
workers. Are communities to be less wise? We believe 
that all that is necessary is the proper educational effort 
to bring these matters to the attention of our community 
leaders. The cause is so just and so promising are the 
benefits to be derived from more adequate provisions 
along these lines, that we have the utmost confidence in the 
future. 

2. Separation of District Offices from Administrative 
Building. The physical location of all of our district offices 
in one building is not conducive to the best or highest type 
of social work. While the Administration Building has 
been a great boon to the development of our organizations 
and while this arrangement still has some advantages over 
dispersed offices, there can be little question that the best 


187 


interests of the community require that the district offices 
from which the case work is being done should be located 
in the respective geographical areas in which their work 
centers. This method of organization is so universally ac- 
cepted as to make an argument for the necessary change 
seem as if we were arguing for the obvious. Nevertheless 
it may be worthwhile to set down here at least the more 
important reasons why this change should be brought about 
in the near future. 

First might be mentioned the fact that social workers 
would be able to do more actual community work and 
organization than they now do because of their close proxi- 
mity to “their communities.” At the present time they 
are outsiders,. without being intimately acquainted with 
the community forces and without being able to organize 
them or take proper advantage of the community backing. 
At the present time also, the community frequently or- 
ganizes against the social worker, whereas if the social 
worker were one of the community it would organize for 
her. If centers were established in the respective districts, 
with some form of local representation and partial auto- 
nomy the charge could not be so easily made that there is 
a “charity trust” in Chicago. It would also bring out people 
who would become interested in and would assume re- 
sponsibility for the local problems. At the present time 
we do comparatively little more than handle the individual 
family situation. The social setting of the family is but 
rarely considered and still more rarely used for purposes 
of control. And yet all of us, social workers and social 
scientists, are aware of the possibilities and greater ef- 
fectiveness of neighborhood control. 

Without having exhausted in any way the arguments 
for neighborhood centers for our case work districts from 
the social control point of view, because a great deal more 
can be said about the effectiveness of such a centre with 
regard to the various problems which each of our neigh- 
borhoods faces such as pool-rooms, disorderly houses, im- 
proper dance halls and other types of vicious commercial 
recreation, school overcrowding, filthy streets and alleys, 
ets. etc., we must: turn to another and immediately more 
compelling reason, namely, the saving of time and energy 
which this would mean for the case workers. 

The time which the workers use in going and coming 


188 


to and from their homes, the central office, and their dis- 
tricts, could be very materially reduced if their offices were 
located within their districts. Travelling under present 
transportation conditions is fatiguing and there can be no 
doubt that the work suffers therefrom aside from the fact 
that it consumes a considerable portion of the workirig day. 
This time could be devoted to actual work. Moreover, if 
these centers were developed in accordance with the 
best practice along these lines, so that not only the 
family case workers but all the workers from all the 
agencies, operating in a given area were to work out 
of such a centre, not only would it mean a tremendous 
saving of time but it would quickly bring about a realiza- 
tion of the considerable amout of duplication, at least geo- 
graphically speaking, which prevails now. There would be 
a greater interchange of information as to method and tech- 
nique as well as to information available on the families 
which are the concern of several agencies. That this would 
vastly improve the service cannot be questioned because in 
essence, it would make possible the same type of intercom- 
munication which was aimed at when Mr. Rosenwald made 
his generous contribution to the community by donating 
the funds for the erection of the Administrative Building— 
only, it would bring together the workers actually working 
with the same families and in the same areas who have a 
great deal in common and because of that can contribute 
toward each others work. It would also obviate the use or 
rather the abuse of the telephone as a means of case con- 
ference between agencies—an evil long since recognized 
and decried by social workers. | 

We are not arguing for the abandonment of the Ad- 
ministration Building! It has by no means outlived its 
usefulness. It has been and continues to be a very im- 
portant asset to the work. We are merely urging the ex- 
tension of this idea so that we may secure. even greater 
benefits from it. The Administration Building should be 
used for the executive offices. There is a lack of space in 
the building now. All-the agencies need more space to be 
effective. Moving the district offices out of the building 
would offer much needed relief. 

From the standpoint of the further development of the 
Social Service Bureau, and the same is also no doubt true 
of the other agencies, the plan suggested has additional 


189 


value in the opportunities which it holds out for the de- 
velopment of sub-executives. In all our thinking and plan- 
‘ning, during the last few years, we held before ourselves 
the ideal of decentralization with adequate control in order 
to develop initiative, self-dependence and strength on the 
part of our department heads. We aimed to give them 
always a little more responsibility than they were ready 
for, in order to develop them. This was the principle which 
guided us. While we aimed always to know what and how 
work was being done, the responsibility for the work was 
placed, in so far as possible, where it belongs,—on the 
workers. Nevertheless, this ideal was not always possible 
of realization—first because the staff was not entirely ready 
for this during the entire period, and, secondly, because 
their close proximity to the final authority made it easy 
to defer judgment and responsibility to that authority. Nor 
was it easy or possible to check this very natural tendency 
to avoid making decisions when such avoidance is possible. 
There is no doubt that this must weaken the staff if indefi- 
nitely continued. An organization like the J. S. S. B. can 
be truly effective only by having capable and upstanding 
sub-executives. No one person nor any few persons can or 
should carry the responsibility for the organization. No 
one-man-organization is sound or efficient. The J. S. S. B. 
is, at the present time, a decentralized organization from the 
standpoint of division of responsibility. The plan suggested 
can be put into operation comparatively easily because 
preparations have been made for this and it is the next 
step in our development. Not to take advantage of our 
readiness for this development within the near future is to 
lose an excellent opportunity and will mean our going back- 
ward instead of forward. 

Finally (and again we must say that we have by no 
means exhausted the factors to be considered), there is 
real danger in congregating as many abnormal and psy- 
copathic personalities as are usually present at any one 
time in the Administration Building. One of the develop- 
ments of which we were quite proud was the abolition of 
the old large waiting room of the Relief Department, made 
possible by the amalgamation in 1921. We opened a num- 
ber of small waiting rooms, one for every two departments. 
The large waiting room was for the clients, what the Ad- 
ministration Building was to be for the workers—an easy 


190 


means of communication for the exchange of information, 
experiences, methods, and-techniques. “All of us felt at 
that time that is was a dangerous institution because it was 
put to good use by our clients. They had more time to 
commune with their fellow clients than the social workers 
could spare to commune with each other, and the large 
waiting room provided ample. opportunity for such com- 
munion. The small waiting room was a relief. There was 
no congregating, infinitely less noise and mischief, than 
formerly. Unfortunately, lack of space made it impossible 
for us to spare these rooms continuously and we were forced 
to convert some of them into offices for workers. However, 
whether we have one or more waiting rooms, the’ number 
of abnormal people coming into this one building daily is 
too great for the safety of the organizations. That tragedies 
do not occur more often than is the case is a blessing such 
as we hardly appreciate. It seems to us that we are tempt- 
ing fate in allowing the present conditions to continue. It 
is extremely fortunate that the shooting which occurred in 
our office some time ago was in no way our fault because 
we were on the friendliest terms with the demented would- 
be-slayer and he therefore had no intention of hurting any 
of our workers. Nevertheless, the reaction in the com- 
munity was extremely unfavorable. Can we afford another 
such occurrence? While the danger of irresponsible action 
is always present when dealing with irresponsible persons, 
it seems that wisdom would dictate reducing this danger 
through every available means. To be sure, separation of 
the district offices would not eliminate the danger entirely. 
It would however serve at least to lessen the possibilities 
of trouble in the same building by reducing the number 
of potential trouble-makers who would come to it. 

3. Special Psychiatric Service. It is not without some 
hesitation that the establishment of special psychiatric facili- 
ties in the Jewish Social Service Bureau is urged as another 
great need of the organization. ‘This hesitation does not 
arise from any doubt as to the need which exists but rather 
from a doubt as to the readiness of social case workers to 
utilize such service and at the same time develop their own 
strength as case workers. Paradoxical as it may seem, we are 
afraid that a special psychiatric service might not prove to be 
an unmixed blessing. We fear that there would be a tend- 
ency on the part of the case worker to relax in her thinking 


191 


because she would and could have an “expert” at her beck 
and call. Case work thinking and planning in fundamental 
terms, is now only in the very beginning of its development. 
It is due in large measure to the case worker’s dissatisfaction 
with her own accomplishments and technique. Accordingly 
the better trained ones have turned to the various social 
sciences for such contributions as each has to make. In 
this ecclecticism of the social worker lies the greatest prom- 
ise for the development of a sound, balanced, and effective 
approach to the treatment of human behavior. Adhering 
too closely to any one of the social sciences carries with it 
the handicap of a limited outlook. This is particularly true 
of psychiatry, which, because of its biological origin, is 
usually fatalistic in its outlook—a point of view incompatible 
with the philosophy underlying social work. Furthermore, 
psychiatry, because of its close affiliation with medicine has 
developed an approach, a methodology and nomenclature 
which are definite and compelling so that the social worker 
would be in danger of being overawed. This might result 
in her becoming timid and obedient, losing her independ- 
ence and critical judgment, to the point where she would 
merely follow instructions. These attitudes are now char- 
acteristic of the nurse and are already observable in the 
medical and psychiatric social workers, some of whom think 
that it is heresy to challenge the physician. That such 
attitudes on the part of the social worker would not make 
for the best development of social case work can hardly 
be questioned. 

Aside from the above considerations, it may be ques- 
tioned whether the case worker would do her best think- 
ing if she had some one who would “authoritatively” solve 
all her problems for her, even though the solution might 
consist only 1n a labeling of her client. It takes the sting 
out of failure when one is told that the failure is due not 
to the fault of the worker but to a lack of capacity on the 
part.of the material which one works with. We do not 
mean to imply that there is no stimulation which could ~ 
come to the case workers from contact with a psychiatrist 
or that all psychiatrists are arbitrary and require unques- 
tioned obedience. However, psychiatrists are still primarily 
physicians and as such they frequently use the most 
common technique of the physicians — requiring unques- 
tioned confidence in and obedience to their authority. 


192 


In spite of all of the above, a psychiatrist on the staff 
could not only make a genuine contribution to the im- 
provement of the case work but is almost a necessity. Thus 
far, the psychiatrist has done more to develop a definite 
technique for the study, interpretation, and control of 
human behavior than any one else. The problems which 
our case workers are called upon to handle are frequently 
so intricate, so involved, and have their roots so deeply 
imbedded in the fundamental aspects of personality that 
much more knowledge is necessary to fathom the difficulties 
than the average case worker has. Without an adequate 
understanding and appreciation of the deeper underlying 
causes, whatever these may be, any attempt at handling the 
situation becomes pure guess work, a trial and error pro- 
cedure, which, barring accidental success, must result in 
very frequent and most costly failure. That. a broadminded 
psychiatrist with a well rounded social.science training and 
point of view, who would have a sympathetic understand- 
ing of the background and traditions of the Jewish people 
and who would conceive his function in the J. S. S. B. 
to be not only to diagnose and suggest treatment for the 
difficult cases brought to him by the staff, but also to train 
the workers themselves to a better understanding of human 
nature, that such a person could increase greatly the per- 
centage of successful treatments, cannot be questioned. This 
is another development which would yield large returns 
for the investment. 

4. More Adequate Medical Service. In stressing the 
need for more adequate medical service, we desire to ac- 
knowledge once more our indebtedness to the Michael 
Reese Dispensary for the great improvement of its service 
to us during the past few years. There are, however, some 
very important defects in some aspects of the medical service 
which we now receive. The most important of these is the 
frequent delays in obtaining complete diagnosis from the © 
dispensary. This is due to no administrative weakness but 
rather to an inherent difficulty in the type of organization 
which the dispensary is. Its medical staff. serves with- 
out remuneration, and while all the physicians are no doubt 
conscientious, and while their rate of attendance may be 
high (as compared with other similar organizations) there 
are frequent absences, with the result that clients come to 
the dispensary time and again without their examination 


193 


being completed. ‘This frequently results in the clients 
losing confidence in the dispensary and ourselves. In the 
cases of financial dependency this means an actual outlay of 
money on the part of the J. S. S. B. and what is worse, it 
means also the beginning of an attitude of dependence on 
the part of the client, because in the absence of definite 
knowledge the organization can do little else than meet 
the requests of the client in accordance with our standards. 

We have never had the opportunity of making an ad- 
equate study as to what such delays cost us in money. It 
would be extremely worth while to obtain this information 
on the basis of one or two years work insofar as such in- 
formation is obtainable. (The costs of delays in terms of 
dependency and disorganization can never be ascertained!) 
In the absence of such facts the writer hazards the opinion 
that the money that could be actually saved in relief if 
prompt examinations were available, would more than pay 
for the professional service necessary to make these ex- 
aminations. We frequently discussed with the superin- 
tendent of the Dispensary the advisability of instituting a 
special clinic in the dispensary conducted by a paid staff. 
But the means with which to try such an experiment never 
could be obtained. Although such a clinic involves many 
difficulties from the standpoint of the administration of a 
dispensary, it is, nevertheless, thought to be eminently worth 
while because of the savings which it would effect. We 
need only consider the effects of the diagnostic clinic on 
our work and the savings which it made possible, to realize 
the importance of prompt and adequate medical service for 
our clients. 

Another defect in the medical service is the in- 
direct contact now obtaining between the physicians and 
the social case worker. The present arrangement is that 
the case worker writes out an elaborte “Background His- 
tory” which the physician is supposed to read before he 
examines the patient. The medical social worker is sup- 
posed to “interpret” this “Background” to the physician and 
to communicate, by mail, to the case worker his findings 
and recommendation. This would be an ideal arrangement 
if it worked. The difficulty with it is that it does not always 
work. There is ample evidence, both implicit and explicit, 
that the physicians and the medical social workers are too 
crowded for time to study the “Backgrounds” so as really 


194 


_ to get an adequate idea of the situation. Our workers have 
frequently expressed the opinion, unfortunately well- — 
founded, that they are the only ones who study the Back- 
ground Histories, and they naturally feel that it is a waste 
of their time which they could more profitably devote to 
their other work. And yet, this is, at. present, our only 
means of communication with the dispensary and the physi- 
cians. They also feel that if they could present their knowl- 
edge of the situations to the physicians, their recommenda- 
tions would frequently be different from what they are. 
Furthermore, the medical case worker’s knowledge of the 
patient and the home condition is at best superficial, gained 
as it is, from the “Background.” Consequently, she cannot 
evaluate the findings and recommendations to the physician 
as would the case worker if she were to have direct contact 
with him. Then, too, there is the possibility of losing a 
good deal that is of value to the understanding and treatment 
of the client or patient through this relay method of com- 
municating the information. 

The obvious solution to all these problems is for the 
case workers to have direct contact with the physicians. 
Administratively, this is not desirable either for the dis- 
pensary or the J.S.S. B. The only other possible solution 
seems to be a liaison person between the dispensary and 
the J.S. S. B. Such a person could familiarize herself with 
the problems involved and interpret the worker’s needs to 
the physicians and the physicians findings and recommenda- 
tion to the workers. For various reasons, including lack of 
funds, we have not been able to solve this problem. In- 
cidentally, it may be pointed out that the establishment of 
district offices* would also go a long way toward helping 
to solve this problem. 

5. More Adequate Child Care. At first blush it may 
seem that this is a matter outside of the province of the 
J. S. S. B., which is primarily a family case work agency, 
On closer analysis, however, it must be apparent that the 
J. S. S. B. is the largest child care agency in the Jewish 
community of Chicago. In its families there are, con- 
servatively estimated, a minimum of 4,000 children who are 
to a greater or lesser degree the responsibility of the or- 
ganization. This is four to five times as many children as 
are handled by all the other Jewish child care agencies in 


*See page 187 ff. 
195 


Chicago. Even if we were to consider only the dependent. 
children, those of the regular and intermittent relief cases, 
we still have responsibility for 1,500 to 2,000 dependent | 
children, which is at least twice the number of dependent 
children handled by all the other organizations. It follows, 
therefore, that our child care problem is a real one and that 
we are not going outside of the limits of our work in dis- 
cussing the needs for adequate child care. 


Our needs for child care may be considered under two 
heads: first, medical care, and, secondly, an observation 
station for children offering behavior problems. 


Until a little over about two years ago, the Children’s 
Examining Clinic* of the Michael Reese Dispensary met 
our need quite adequately. Due to lack of funds the activi- 
ties of this clinic were curtailed so that the J. S. S. B. does 
not any longer have this facility. This clinic together with 
the work done on the Eisendrath Foundation cases** made 
our workers conscious of the need for paying special at- 
tention to the health of the children in our families. The 
clinic, by examining all of the children whether well or not, 
was able to do a great deal of preventive work by discover- 
ing defects before the health of the children was under- 
mined. Instances of malnutrition were easily and quickly 
discovered and attended to, insofar as that was possible, so 
that we were always watchful of the health problems in 
our families. With the discontinuation of this clinic the 
emphasis has been shifted from the preventive to the 
curative aspects of child health, a shift not compatible with 
good standards of case work. Our efforts at re-establishing 
this clinic have availed us nothing because the funds have 
not been made available for the dispensary. That this is a 
short-sighted policy on the part of the community is, of 
course, obvious. 


The need for an observation centre is a more complicated 
problem because it involves not only the J. S. S. B. but all 
the child care agencies in the Jewish community. For 
many years we have been urging the need of studying the 
personalities and problems, which children present before 
they are placed permanently or temporarily. When chil- 
dren are to be placed because of the temporary removal 


*See) page 175/ff- 
**See page 35. 


196 


or death of the mother, they are usually placed by the child 
care agency. At the present time these placements are be- 
ing made with but little study and knowledge of the child’s 
personality, obviously necessary for proper adjustment. 
While we have no intention here to criticize the work of a 
cooperating agency, candor and the best interests of the 
community demand that we voice our regret, to say the 
least, that a real opportunity and, in some cases, the only 
opportunity for observing children under controlled con- 
ditions is allowed to slip through our fingers so that we 
must continue to work in the dark in the case of those same 
children. : 


Besides, even a superficial consideration of placement 
technique would seem to indicate the need of adjusting 
the foster home to the child. That this cannot be done 
without a careful study of the child is, of course, clear. Our 
experience leads us to believe that no facilities for such 
study are now available, so that the children are adjusted to 
the home rather than the other way around. Furthermore, in 
the case of temporary and emergency placements, and it is 
this type of placement that concerns us here because the chil- 
dren most always come back to us, the manner of place- 
ment, the frequency of change of home, the distribution of 
children of the same families throughout the city so that 
they frequently cannot see each other, etc., all have a de- 
cided effect on the recovery of the parent as well as upon 
the character of the children. All these matters concern 
us deeply and affect our work most seriously. We strongly 
urge a reconsideration of the entire child care problem 
in our community. We hope that the study now in con- 
templation and mentioned elsewhere* will point the way 
to the solution of this problem. 


6. Research and Study. We feel very strongly that a 
department of research and study should be established 
in the J. S. S. B. as soon as possible. We are aware of the 
fact that some may question whether research is a legit- 
imate function of an agency such as ours and furthermore 
whether an agency can study its own work with that de- 
tachment and objectivity necessary for scientific inquiry, 

To the first question we would say that the time must 
come when social agencies will recognize the validity of 


*See page 176 ff. 
197 


research as a legitimate and integral part of their work even 
as industry has recognized that the establishment of re- 
search laboratories is necessary to its development. We are 
not referring to pure research for the purpose of furthering 
scientific knowledge, which should be the function of schools 
and universities, although it should be said that even this 
could be successfully defended, in our judgment, on the 
ground that such knowledge would ultimately improve the 
work and therefore add to the effectiveness of the agencies. 
We are referring here to the need for reviewing and evaluat- 
ing the work as it is being done in terms of standards and 
methods which have been developed in the field. Such 
studies partake of the nature of case reviews, statistical 
treatment of data collected which can be so treated, the de- 
velopment and testing of administrative principles and pro- 
cedure and passing judgment on the basis of factual data 
on the effectiveness of the work done in the light of such 
knowledge and criteria as may be available. Unless this 
be done continuously so that the staff may come to look 
upon it as a necessary part of the work, they will consider 
any single study as a reflection upon their work and are 
likely to develop an attitude of uneasiness and defense which 
is injurious to the work. 

Moreover, if the workers knew that the materials which 
they are working on and collecting are to be used in this way 
they would be stimulated to do their very best and would 
be eager for the information and light which would come 
to them, on their past and future work, from such studies. 
A department such as we contemplate, headed by a com- 
petent research student with an adequate knowledge and 
background in the social sciences and the principles of case 
work, reviewing the work on the basis of standards and 
criteria developed and accepted by the entire organization 
and in the field in general, could become the greatest stim- 
ulus for effective work which could be devised. The results 
of such studies would be accepted by the staff because they 
would have a hand in the studies themselves and they would 
not be considered as a superimposition. If in addition each 
of the supervisors were given an opportunity to do case 
reviewing under the direction of the head of such a depart- 
ment, they would be stimulated to an extent which is 
hardly conceivable. Its benefits to the work would be in- 
calculable. | 


198 


Several studies have been undertaken in the J. S. S. B. 
during the last four or five years. We never had the means 
for organizing the work according to the plan suggested 
above. Neither the staff nor the finances of the organiza- 
tion were ready for such work. The studies were therefore 
undertaken without giving the staff full participation during 
the progress of the study, although we were fully aware 
that the value of these studies would not be as great as 
they would otherwise be. However, it was not a matter 
of choice but of necessity and the plea in now made for an 
arrangement which would be feasible and beneficial. 

The question as to whether an organization can be suf- 
ficiently objective to study its own work and be dispas- 
sionate in its findings can best be answered by the studies 
which have thus far been made. These studies, exclusive 
of minor studies which we need not consider here, are four 
in number. A study of the Eisendrath Foundation work; 
a study of the handicap problems facing the Jewish com- 
munity; a study of the Boys’ Department, and a study of 
about 800 cases closed in 1923, which is now in process. 
Each of these studies was undertaken and executed under 
our own immediate guidance and supervision. In the case 
of the Eisendrath Foundation and the Boys’ Department 
studies, we were much more critical and severe on the or- 
ganization than an outside organization would have been 
had we called one in to make these studies for us. Our 
method was strictly scientific and every conclusion drawn 
is derived from the facts as submitted in the study and 
subject to check by any one interested in the study. The 
study of the handicap problems was frankly undertaken to 
test, prove or disprove, our hypothesis that an industrial 
shop would immeasurably help us in the work. Here, too, 
the data is submitted in detail in the study and was sub- 
jected to the critical review of the entire staff, the Board and 
other lay and professional people in the community. The 
study now in progress is being made with the most careful 
and strictest possible attention to scientific procedure. In 
each of these studies we had the service of an outsider of un- 
questioned ability and disinterestedness who approached 
the problem without any bias. More than this no one can 
ask. Objectivity would be impossible perhaps where one 
reviews the work for which one is immediately responsible. 
However, where reviews are made in accordance with 


199 


scientific procedure, especially when the reviewer is entirely 
detached from and has no responsibility for the work under 
review, there can be no objection. In fact, there is con- 
siderable advantage in such an arrangement because it 
makes it possible for the study to be made on the basis of an 
intimate knowledge of the actual prevailing conditions, a 
very necessary element in the treatment of material involv- 
ing human personalities and institutions. 


200 


to 


10. 


Ge 


ie 


ro: 


14. 


15. 


16. 
tf 
18. 


£o. 


APPENDIX A 
List of Problems and Definitions in Use in Districts 


Acute Illness: To be used when any member of the family has 
an illness of other than chronic nature. 


Chronic Illness: To be used when there is in the family a case 
of disease of long duration. 


Tuberculosis—Active: To be used when a member of the 
family suffers from an active tubercular condition of any part 
of the body. 

Tuberculosis—Non-Active: ‘To be used when medical author- 
ity pronounces a patient’s tubercular condition “arrested,” 
‘Jatent,” or “non-active.” 

Malnutrition: To be used in case of a condition of improper 
nourishment amounting to a medical problem. 

Venereal Disease: To be used where there has been a medical 
diagnosis of syphilis or gonorrhea, and until the patient has 
been discharged as cured or apparently cured. 

Physical Defect: To be used in case of a physical lack or mal- 
formation whether or not associated with active disease. 


Drug & Alcohol Addiction: To be used when intoxicants or 
drugs are used to such an extent as to cause physical deteriora- 
tion or social disorganization. 

Insanity: To be used where there is a commitment or a diag- 
nosis of insanity and until there has been enough improvement 
to make the patient fairly adjusted in the community 

Mental Deficiency: To be used when the individual is classified 
as dull, borderline or feebleminded. 


Personality Defect: To be used when a peculiar mental twist 
works against the suitable adjustment of the individual to his 
environment. 

Physical Injury: To be used when an accidental injury has 
occurred to any member of the family. 

Unemployment: To be used when any employable member of 
the family is without work for over three consecutive days at 
any time during the month. 

Insufficient Earnings: To be used where earnings of wage- 
earner (husband) when receiving normal wage and holding as 
good a position as can be obtained for him, is insufficient to 
support the family. 

Work Maladjustment: When any adult (over 21 years) mem- 
ber of family is employed at some occupation for which he is 
decidedly less suited than for some other form of employment 
which might be obtained or for which he might be trained. 
Domestic Difficulty: To be used when there is maladjustment 
or conflict between husband and wife. 

Desertion: To be used where husband or wife leaves the home, 
giving no information as to his or her destination. 


Separation: To be used when the couple live apart by pre- 
arrangement because of domestic reasons. 


Non-Support: To be used in case of failure of support from 
those legally responsible. 


201 


39, 


40. 


Divorce: To be used after divorce decree has been rendered. 


Family Incompatibility: To be used when there is discord or 
lack of adjustment among members of the immediate family 
group. 

Widowhood: To be used in case of the death of the husband or 
wife. 

Illegitimacy: To be used in the case of any child born out of 
wedlock, until it has been legitimatized. 

Neighborhood Difficulty: To be used where there is conflict 
between any member of the family and neighbors. 

Illiteracy: To be used when an adult is unable to read or write 
in any language because of lack of training. 

Naturalization: To be used when any member of the family 
lacks full citizenship. 

Imprisonment: To be used when any member of the family is 
in a penal institution or detained awaiting trial. 

Gambling: To be used when any member of the family makes 
it a practice to play games of chance to such an extent that 
disorganization occurs in the individual or in the family life. 
Old Age: To be used where problems arise because of the 
advanced years of an individual. 

Bad Housing: To be used where living quarters are below the 
local legal standard of health and sanitation. 

Poor Housekeeping: To be used when the physical care e the 
home is decidedly inadequate. 

Parental Neglect: To be used where the children’s physical 
condition suffers because the father or mother fails to meet his 
responsibility. 

Immorality of Parent: To be used when the sex conduct of 
either parent may affect the children unfavorably. 

Inadequate Home Control: To be used when the family has 
failed to exercise proper control over the child’s conduct, or - 
where the child has failed to respond to existing home control. 
School Maladjustment: To be used when school contacts or 
curricula are unsuited to the child’s individual needs. 

School Retardation: To be used when a child is more than one 
year behind his normal grade according to chronological age. 
Defective Recreation: To be used when young peoples’ recrea- 
tion is conspicuously inadequate or unsuitable. 

Vocational Maladjustment: To be used when a young person’s 
employment is not in line with his desires, abilities or possibili- 
ties for development. 

Bad Associates: To be used when children’s companions are of 
such a character as to be a demoralizing influence. 

Sex Irregularities: To be used when problems arise out of the 
individual’s sex life of a serious enough ‘nature to require 
treatment. It may involve the individual only or the individual 
in relation to others. 


202 


APPENDIX B 


List of Problems and Definitions in Use in Boys’ and Girls’ 
Department 


(In the following classification of behavior disorders and 
factors, the effort was made to include all of the major types of 
disturbances and the important causal influences. Three main divi- 
sions are used in order to make it possible to employ the classifi- 
cation as a diagnostic summary of the case. The first division is 
devoted to behavior disorders, the second and third to the factors 
or causes likely to call them out. The first division may be re- 
garded as a grouping of symptoms or effects, the second and third, 
‘as series of conditioning influences and causes). 


A. BEHAVIOR DISORDERS 


1. Home Difficulties. To be used in instances where home behavior 
includes such characteristics as keeping irregular hours, in- 
subordination, excessive quarreling or fighting and in a general 
way creating a disturbance in the home. 


to 


School Maladjustment. To be used where school contacts or 
curricula are unsuited to the child’s individual needs giving rise 
to truancy, retardation, general misbehavior or insurbordination. 


3. Industrial Maladjustment. To be used when there are very 

- frequent changes of employment; where the work is not in 
‘harmony with the individual’s interests or capacities or where 
it does not offer adequate possibilities for development. 


- 4, Runaway. To be used when a young person repeatedly leaves 
home for ga period of a day or more without his parent’s consent. 


5. Creating disturbance in neighborhood. To be used where a 
young person makes himself objectionable to his neighbors 
by rowdyism and destructive behavior. 


_.6, Stealing. To be used when a young person makes a practice of 
taking other person’s property without their consent. 


7. Gambling. To be used when a young person makes it a 
practice to play games of chance to such an extent that disor- 
ganization is likely to occur. 


8. Idleness. To be used when a young person is unemployed for 
long periods and where a definite resistance must be overcome 
to induce him to work. 


9. Habitual Lying. To be used where there is a tendency to lie 
for any possible gain thereby. Also to be used when there is a 
deep-seated tendency toward coloring one’s experience and 
glorifying oneself by continuous lying even when it is obviously 
contradicted by the facts and where there is no apparent gain. 


10. Irregular Emotional Behavior. To be use when a young person’s 
behavior departs from the normal in the direction of depression 
or apathy; where the person is easily upset, goes into frequent 
tantrums, is a prey to irrational fears, hates and outbursts of 
anger, and also where there is an undue attachment for some 
particular individual or where there is excessive demonstration 
of affection. 


203 


it 


13. 


14. 


13: 


16. 


we 


18. 


19. 


20. 


Sex Irregularties. To be used when problems arising out of 
the individual’s sex life are of a serious enough nature to re- 
quire treatment. These situations may involve the individual 
only or the individual in relation to others. 


B. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS 


Use of Narcotics or Stimulants. To be employed where a young 
person makes use of such drugs as cccaine or morphine and its 
derivatives, and even where the use of coffee or cigarettes is so 
excessive as to be harmful. 


Detrimental Neighborhood Influences. To be used when there 
are such influences in the neighborhood as disreputable dance 
halls, pool rooms, or disorderly houses that may contribute 
to delinquency; where the locality is over-stimulating because 
of its night life or commercial activity, and also where there are 
railroad yards, dilapidated buildings, interstitial areas, or other 
influences favoring the development of gang life. 


Bad Living Conditions. To be used when housing ordinance 
rules are violated, or when there is inadequate space for the 
natural activities of the family, such as children’s play and 
entertaining by the young people, or when sleeping arrange- 
ments crowd the family together in such a way as to foster 
unwholesome sex habits and imagery in the young. To be used 
also where the household equipment is very inadequate or 
where the physical care of the home is poor. 


Undesirable Associates. To be used when young people are 
frequently in the company of others who are vicious, rowdy or 
law breaking or when their companions by reason of difference 
of age, experience or defective mentality, may exercise an 
unwholesome influence. 


Turbulent or Vicious Home. To be used when the home life is 
disturbed by continuous quarreling, violence, intoxication, im- 
morality or defiance of law. 


Defective Family Relationships. To be used when there is ap- 
parent a lack of sufficient “family solidarity” as indicated by 
an undercurrent of antagonism or indifference toward the at- 
titudes and ambitions of the other members in the family. 


Divergent Family Standards. Where the various members of 
the family have widely different values and standards. This 
may be due to age, different cultural levels and experience or 
varying degrees of assimilation of American culture. 


Defective Family Control. To be used when the discipline of 
the children is over-indulgent, over-strict, or where partiality is 
shown, or where the parents lack interest in the welfare of the 
children, To be used also where one parent is dead, out of the 
home, mentally or physically defective in such a way as to 
make it impossible to render adequate supervision. 


Inadequate Income. To be used when the family is unable to 
maintain itself without outside assistance. 


204 


28. 


YASe 


30. 


a 2h 


oe. 


SBP 


34. 


C. PERSONALITY FACTORS 


Lay oy un, be 


Chronic Illness. To be used when the young person has an 
illness of long duration. 


Acute Illness. To be used in the case of the young person 
having an illness of other than chronic nature. 


Venereal Disease. 


Malnutrition. To be used when a young person’s condition is 
one of improper nourishment amounting to a medical problem. 


Developmental Defect. To be used when the individual is 
either over or under-developed physically or sexually and also 
where there has been a very eventful medical history. 


Physical Defect. To be used in case of a physical lack or mal- 
formation whether or not associated with active disease. 


Unfavorable Hereditary Findings. To be used when evidences 
of epilepsy, feeble-mindedness, nervous instability, psychotic 
disorders, tuberculosis, alcoholism or syphylis, are known to 
have existed in grandparents, parents, maternal and paternal 
aunts, uncles and siblings. 


MENTAL 


Defective Intelligence. To be used when an individual is classi- 
fied as feeble-minded, borderline defective, dull or backward on 
the basis of his intelligence quotient. 


Temperamental Defect. To be used where it is recognized 
either on the basis of close observation or of a psychiatric ex- 
amination; that an individual is known to be unusually sensitive, 
impulsive and petulant; where there are frequent changes of 
mood, the individual being inclined to be depressed at one time 
and joyous and optimistic at another and also where there are 
prolonged spells either of depression or elation. 


Disorders of Sex Life. To be used where it is definitely known 
that a person has been habitually practicing some form of 
perversion or auto-eroticism for a prolonged period. 


Compulsive Interests or Habits. To be used where some ac- 
tivity, such as frequenting dance halls, motion picture theatres, 
pool rooms, etc., some form of athletics, collecting, play, 
gambling, or interest in the opposite sex gain such preponderant 
importance for the individual as to serve as an unbalancing 
factor so as to absorb the energy that might normally be 
directed along a variety of lines more conducive to the in- 
dividual’s welfare. 


Lack of Wholesome Interests. To be used where a person is a 
prey to suggestion and bad influences owing to a lack of healthy 
mental and physical activities. 


Neurotic Adaptations. To be used where a psychiatric ex- 
amination indicates the existence of some form of anxiety 
neurosis, neurasthenia, psychasthenia, hysteria or compulsive 
reaction. 


Psychotic Disorders. To be used where there is some definite 
form of insanity such as dementia praecox, paranoia, etc. 


205 


35. Psychopathic Without Psychosis. To be used where there are 
psychopathic findings not covered by main classifications, that 
is, the known psychotic and neurotic disorders. These cases 
are sometimes diagnosed as psychopathic personalities, con- 
stitutional inferiors, egocentric personalties, etc. 


36. Homeless Child. To be used when a young person has no 
home because one or both parents are dead, or are living in 
another city, are separated or have deserted. This includes 
also young persons whose homes are closed to them. 


37. Unmarried Mother. 


206 


APPENDIX C 


List of Problems and Definitions in Use in Legal Aid Department 


1. 


Go 


15, 


16. 


Annulment of Marriage: To be used where an annulment of a 
marriage is sought through court action. 


Bastardy: To be used where illegitimate birth of children 
necessiiates legal treatment. 


Business Difficulty: To be used where difficulties arising out 
of contracts or sales, such as money claims, real estate diffi- 
culties and damage suits, necessitate social or legal treatment. 


City Ordinance Violation: To be used where individuals charged 
with violating city ordinance necessitate treatment in Court. 


Concealed Weapons & Sadler Act: To be used where in- 
dividuals charged with carrying concealed weapons, or who are 
charged under the Sadler Act (state weapon statute) necessi- 
tate treatment in Court. 


Contrib. Delinquency: To be used where individuals contri- 


buting to delinquency or dependency of children as defined by 
Statute require treatment in Court. 


Crimes Against Person: To be used where injury or attempted 


injury of a person (exclusive of sex crimes) necessitates treat- 
ment in Court. 


Crimes Against Property: To be used where criminal violation 


of accepted code of property rights necessitates treatment in 
Court. 


Divorce: To be used where prosecution or defense of divorce 
action or modification of decree is necessary. 


Estates: To be used where the estates of (a) Minors, (b) 
Insane, and (c) Deceased, necessitate social or legal treatment. 


Immigration: To be used where immigrants require adjust- 
ment with the Federal Immigration Service. 


Landlord & Tenant: To be used where difficulties between 
tenant and landlord necessitate legal treatment. 


Naturalization: To be used where procuring naturalization or 
the establishing of naturalization data requires legal treatment. 


Non-Support: To be used where the non-support or insufficient 
support of wife, children or both or indigent relatives necessi- 
tates legal treatment. 


Pardon & Parole: To be used where application for pardon 
and parole require legal treatment. 


Personal Injury: ‘To be used where social or legal treatment 
is necessary due to personal injury. 


207 


ite 


i. 


19. 


DOTTIE ISG INe boet = 
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Separate Maintenance: To be used where the separation of 
husband and family and the support of the latter by the former 
is sought through court action. 

Sex Offenses Involving Adults: To be used where individuals 
charged with: 

a—Disorderly conduct 

b—Adultery 

c—Inmate of house of prostitution 

d—Keeper of house of prostitution 

e—Soliciting 

f—Pandering 

require treatment in Court. 

Sex Offenses Against Children: To be used where individuals 
charged with: 

a—Crimes against children 

b—Crimes against nature 

c—Rape 

d—Taking indecent liberties 

require treatment in Court. 

Violation of Liquor Act: To be used where violation of either 
State or Federal laws regarding liquor require treatment in 
Court. 

Violation of Postal Laws: To be used where persons charged 
with violation of postal laws require legal treatment. 


Wage Claims: To be used where claims for service by em- 
ployee from employer necessitate social or legal treatment. 


Legal Advice.# 

Violation by Adults of Compulsory School Attendance Statute.+ 
Bigamy.# 

Feeble-Minded or Insane.# 

Contempt of Court.# 

Breach of Promise.# 

Military Offense.+ 

Violation Federal Narcotic Act.# 

Adoption.# 


These problems were added more recently. 


208 


APPENDIX D 


Ready Reference Table of District and Special Department Problem 


DISTRICT: PROBLEMS 


A—HEALTH: 

1. Acute Illness 

2. Chronic Illness 

3. Tuberculosis, Active 

4. Tuberculosis, Non-Active 

5. Malnutrition 

6. Venereal Disease 

7. Physical Defect 

8. Drug & Alcohol Addiction 

9. Insanity 

10. Mental Deficiency 

11. Personality Defect 

12.) Physical Injury, 
B.—_INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS: 

13. Unemployment 

14. Insufficient Earnings 

15. Work Maladjustment 
C.—FAMILY RELATIONS: 

16. Domestic Difficulty 

17. Desertion 

18. Separation 

19. Non-support 

20. Divorce 

21. Family Incompatibility 

22. Widowhood 
D.— PERSONAL PROBLEMS: 

23. Illegitimacy 

24. Neighborhood Difficulty 

27 se liliteracy 

27. Imprisonment 

28. Gambling 

29. Old Age 
F—SANITATION PROBLEMS: 

30. Bad Housing 

31. Poor Housekeeping 


F.—CHILDREN’S SPECIAL 


PROBLEMS: 


Parental Neglect 
Immorality of Parent 
Inadequate Home Control 
School Maladjustment 
School Retardation 
Defective Recreation 
Vocational Maladjustment 
Bad Associates 


Sex Irregularities 


SPECIAL: DEPATCOMEN 


PROBLEMS 


A.—BEHAVIOR DISORDERS: 


SO 90 NID eae 


Home Difficulties 
School Maladjustment 
Industrial Maladjustment 
Runaway 

Creating Disturbance in 
Neighborhood 

Stealing 

Gambling 

Idleness 

Habitual Lying 
Irregular Emotional 
Behavior 

Sex Irregularities 

Use of Narcotics or 
Stimulants 


B.—ENVIRONMENTAL 


13; 
14. 
{3: 
16. 
We. 
18. 


19° 
20. 


FACTORS: 
Detrimental Neighborhood 
Influences 
Bad Living Conditions 
Unsuitable Associates 
Turbulent or Vicious 
Home 
Defective Family Re- 
lationships 
Divergent Family 
Standards 
Defective Family Control] 
Inadequate Income 


C.—PERSONALITY FACTORS: 


209 


PHMSICAL 


Chronic Illness 

Acute Illness 

Venereal Disease 
Malnutrition 
Developmental Defect 
Physical Defect 
Unfavorable Hereditary 
Findings 


MENTAL 


Defective Intelligence 
Temperamental Defect 
Disorders of Sex Life 
Compulsive Interests or 
Habits 

Lack of Wholesome 
Interests 

Neurotic Adaptations 
Psychotic Disorders 
Psychopathic Without 
Psychosis 

Homeless Child 
Unmarried Mother 


APPENDIX E 


Arthur Young & Company 


Members American Institute of Accountants 


Schedule B 


THE JEWISH AID SOCIETY 
RELIEF DEPARTMENT 


Statement of Income and Expenditures for Year Ending 


December 31, 1920. 


INCOME 
Associated « Jewisii@nartties 2)...----.2 ces ates. $290,330.00 
Lrrteres eager ee se ee 1,788.35 
Excess of Expenditures over Income for 
year ending December 31, 1920................ 5,035.81 


$297,154.16 


PP Xe ete Nar lee Rei SS 


Relief: 
General. VR@NCE Brae eee eee $125,309.86 
Rents fii eee et oe roe 46,462.76 
Pension “Rents so ee ee ee 12,833.92 
Pension Monthly Allowances ................ 31,057.96 
LYANSP Osta tiGt wc tes ere ch es 656.28 
Cal otter eae eee eee ee a eas ae 13,184.99 
Clothin gece tie Soo nan ee ee 8,693.23 
Furniture sirseets ee ee ee ve SO 3E225 
Shoes come ete ae 2 Wee an Ne te a 3,388.21 


Manufacturing Department Expense .... 2619.24 


Administration: 
Salartes eee Eye Pie, NRC Mol Pededas OS Pe $40,665.39 
Télephonegand al elewtaph 22.220. 05h. 177.26 
General Alix pense: ce man = ee, oe LE ee 1,974.51 
TaSUra rice ee ice ieee ee acl ya eae 116.26 
Postage Aire ie ett ee kos. eee nee 491.14 
Office Suppiies ear t ie eee eesal ie eee 585.31 
Maintenance 1 cme re tt ee ae 3,600.00 
Car. Bares ere Se ee ee 564.45 
AutomobilesExpense? a eee 841.14 


210 


$248,138.70 


49,015.46 


$297,154.16 


APPENDIX F 


Arthur Young & Company 


Members American Institute of Accountants 


Schedule D. 
THE JEWISH AID SOCIETY 
SELF-SUPPORT DEPARTMENT 
BALANCE SHEET 
December 31, 1920. 
AMS rai rorbas 
CASH: 

AMET Eat cle MEE Cha Bi es ews Fat ee BIRR oe Ae he oe $ 3,501.90 
eC Sle er ae ci Le a AY ad cae Ol ea SO I ae 11,745.97 
Een TON Laks Co Px Poe Lg PSE OR GL ES eae ee te ep 364.00 

$15,611.87 
LIABILITIES AND FUNDS 
Beetle key CE be) temas, Fe Grn Ls eee eee se ee eee Se ee ee ee $ 15,611.87 


APPENDIX G 


Arthur Young & Company 
Members American Institute of Accountants 


Schedule G 


THE JEWISH AID SOCIETY 
BUREAU OF PERSONAL SERVICE 


Statement of Income and Expenditures for Year Ending 


December 31, 1920 


TEN CLO OME 
Associatedy Jewishw Chariticss 2.3.0 2 ee. 
(serera lL aLiOnatiGiisaie ne a. ses ee ee ae $ 693.30 
Julius “Rosenwald sDonations!\1.2....80 4 ee . 976.65 
Welfare Committee for Jewish Girls’ Dona- 

CLOTS Mite Weer, eles ot ba atl wales a ee 1,008.45 
SUpPOmen eee Lone ety rua Owe te? 26,972.53 
Excess of Expenditures over Income for 

the year ending December 31, 1920.-.......... 

Hime UN: Dl aa Rebs 
Generals Donationse. asters se were Sa O39 72 
Julius vRoséenwalds Donations v4 eee 934.46 
Welfare Committee for Jewish Girls’ Dona- 

TIONS: ee Be oe ae Ores aren eee 933.55 
SUDpOries dss cea AEs: re REN Re TO 26,818.02 


Administration: 
Sala riche ett tee ee teat ey Sie ear 41,448.91 
Maintenance stl erst te oes cee 2,280.00 
A(OificesSup olicsr iain wre ee os yh 359.24 
POStaOGae waar wer eee ee 3 Ds 201.88 
‘Lélephotecand -Pelesraphe 0 ees 347.90 
LiPansportanons ieee te hk Peace e 158.62 
Instance kai ee ae Ate eo es ee re 86.73 
Ca td PALS ao ete tia sts oerel al boat ae er 669.93 
Printitig ¢.c0 Gee rel eka ee 221.29 
Officer EOXPEnse See Ai. iis mk ee eens 767.51 


AlZ 


$45,649.82 


~ 29,650.93 
573.01 


$75,873.76 


$29, d20eh0 


46,548.01 


$75,873.76 


APPENDIX H 


Arthur Young & Company 


Members American Institute of Accountants 


Exhibit B 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE OF CHICAGO 


RELIEF DEPARTMENT 


Statement of Income and Expenditures for the Year Ending 


December 31, 1921. 


IyN-C O-M E 
PXLSGOCTI GEO SIC WISP IATITICS) cc.cscec-c-c-cscsereseceeac 324,450.00 
IER he ad RO 2 en ne 1,933.70 
Furniture and Fixtures transferred from 
HERsOna service DULeAll ) icvcec.b cn -e-- 1,584.08 
Wneimimed aa neck sm Written. Olf-.ccccc.. estos 45.00 
Excess of Income over Expenditures for 
year ending December 31, 1921 (Subt.)..... 2,944.14 
Relief: PeexeietouN ble LD URES 
SoRSTU PU VERS Beth IS Ul sda enn ee Oo $102,859.26 
Dole ag cee res ee es Ti 49 597.65 
Temi URNs Ciba ee ey Eh a 6,784.44 
Pension ‘Monthly Allowance. .......:....... 11,601.54 
er eVet iG L a ti he ee seal le we 937.49 
BRE ces Se Rice, a a 14,213.50 
Sie Ca Tome eee ee ge 2,490.79 
Pate ilu Ec ern e) ae e 2 he 24130.35 
SAOSIN a 2,006.29 
Manufacturing Department Expense .... 727.84 
(alsa Keg gaat pha od RAY) dpe oe 9,336.07 
Parrereencw eA lowances uu... ss oes as 21,989.86 
Administration: 
OS A fed Smee re ld 83,021.10 
elephonevandm telegraph .2....2-2.:..03.45-- 2,200.93 
ree fare IPSC ee deh S70 oe 
VaR See Co Ra See 157.74 
UEgaay ey eats yoo ol 4 A ee 622.69 
Ohi COMO ID OTIC GBer et ee ee 1,855.04 
Mati Leta GCM eee Me ee 5,500.00 
Mone LANES «0 ge es een 1,040.50 
PUTO MOD Uem PE kNeTISE Ma. oe 94.97 
Depreciation of Furniture and Fixtures 648.76 
Depreciation of Automobile ........... “hate 465.57 


Other Expenditures: 


Overdraft of Personal Service Bureau 
PNSETTIVOC Bree ees st hehe A 


vAG 


$325,068.64 


$224,681.08 


99,629.82 


757.74 
$325,068.64 


APPENDIX I 


Arthur Young & Company 


Members American Institute of Accountants 


,Exhibit D 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


SELF-SUPPORT DEPARTMENT 


BALANGE SHEERS? 


December 31, 1921 


CASH: 


Lreasturer-serund: <4. 


Ngee ig ed (iS: 


“LIABILITIES AND FUNDS 


SELF-SUPPORT FUND 


Oe wen oe nee ccm e ewan cee ce ens een enw en meee acaneces 
> 


214 


3,263.95 
6,660.76 
9,924.71 


9,924.71 


APPENDIX J 


Arthur Young & Company 
Members American Institute of Accountants 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNT 


Statement of Income and Expenditure for the Year Ending 
December 31, 1922 


IN COME 
ASSOCIA LE BLEW ISH Da TItlGS » wrcte focegseticces cals $402,205.51 
US eet adhe ee SS Cy a Bs ih hy en Pe 1,877.97 
Unclaimed: Checks: written off 2.2.5. 222.....21..... 104.22 
$404,187.70 
Relief: EXPENDITURE et ae 
Regula ge slo wa ticey rues oe nese ate th ee $ 70,371.09 
Emervencys Allowance. — 2.-5342).08. 51,509.29 
Recularay Rettameiiaeeet ee nes 44,864.15 
WINOPPCUCVS Rett te ake eee 27,978.15 
Homesminding ey eee eee 38,404.17 
PIOUSE MULT tS iti woe era ek O2o5.02 
a eee tain eee PS, Noosa NI, 17,619.93 
Clothing: Rae 0, yr MT eo AEE een 4,749.85 
SHOE Shy ie rings Oe tera a ess Se 2,262.85 
Mii llomet Nase Nase ewes oF Ses ls he se oh! 6,122.36 
EL EAIVSD GTI iOine ee ete ee. 717.75 
Storeroom Workshop Expense ............ 1,183.18 
Administration: | $268,665.79 
Salariesy con ein Mm mcrae Menlo Rea ty 0G tt $114,368.45 
Telephone and Telegraph. ...................... 2,869.97 
RrCHeralMEGK PD CNSam eens oe eee ee ae 3,422.99 
OTA CEsSUDP HES ars hs sce Gat, Se ee ee 2,031.78 
Postage wean s tate eee tee ee) Seen 750.55 
(Care ares gee sektin: lew sy eee ie We pan 1,294.66 
TRS UPAT COM rece eee eers CRs ees 210.21 
FATAL Ou FORD CTS Gan te ree be aa eens Se 21,15 
TeOSSe ODO ales Ol WA ULOs ete ee 165.58 
Main tétlance east eet eed Eat 5,880.00 
Depreciation on Furniture and Fixtures 648.76 
131,664.10 
$400,329.89 
Excess of Income over Expenses for year 
ending, December SLA 19220 ae 3,857.81 
$404,187.70 


215 


APPENDIX K 


Arthur Young & Company 


Members American Institute of Accountants 


Exhibit D 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


SELF-SUPPORT DEPARTMENT 


BALANCE SHEET 


December 31, 1922 


POS oS 4 PL es 
CASIiG 
Trea Sire is Mle nti ec Ue Wee 2 at ee ee $ 699.06 
LOANS. tee Me Wee eA. Ge a eg Rote SNe ok Sa ca eee, Wes ay eee 11,994.64 
$12,693.70 
LIABILITIES AND FUNDS 
SF ESS Gi Bas Sam is CN ae nee acct Ute ee $12,693.70 


APPENDIX L 


Hiram E. Decker 
Certified Public Accountant 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


GENERAL ADMINISTRATION 


Statement Showing The Income and Expenditures for the 


Calendar Year of 1923 


Schedule E 
Tee oO MCE 
Associated Jewish SONY Ghia Soe) eee epee $357,000.00 
BG pmo eH Rb Reh eof ce (AA ame eee Sal 5,515.90 
Unredeemed Checks of Long Standing........ 98.07 
$362,613.97 


beeen Dol LAR ES 
Relief Work: 


Hie@iitte UO wancespaeen oie. heres. $50,971.95 
Regular Rene, 3 (| 2) A ae 39,504.83 
Himercency ello wances 4.8 eel. 48,971.37 
BQVEPCeN Oye Ci se ir hee es 27,345.43 
PROT el des Ge Sa). al ee ee ee 762.89 
Oley Wee eee TS Aas on oN a an Ne 16,795.24 
SHOES Aa wae es ee Se, 2,118.53 
PiU see UiRislitt es eres weet ae. 5,731.48 
COWL eeb ivan) eo hur, Gay | lal! ey eee 5,543.17 
IUD Sak 8, Sh a NE a 8,895.37 
STO LOLOOMM VV OL RSIIOD 7 fc. clans oud wcctune 419.06 


Administrative Expenses: 


cick [atl cc aaa pers. POM Ee le 124°378.51 
Welepione ance werostap hts: see. G. 2,863.09 
Cer ak Cpe emer et ee Yet 1,306.35 
EOS al reer et ta Poe ea 773.54 
OT AIC AIC e recent ger. ee 5,880.00 
Riyetir ie emer mete ok te 358.70 
DE ng tY A SOY Oe a Batt RR an RI COR Tee ae a oe 1,846.65 
(Sele ately Menses went os We hue 4,349.40 


Balance, Net Income—Transferred to Gen- 
Sralriind bra ges 2. 0 eo. 


217 


Exhibit 1 


$141,756.24 
$348,815.56 
$13,798.41 


APPENDIX M 


Hiram E. Decker 
Certified Public Accountant 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


SELF-SUPPORT DEPARTMENT 


STATEMENT OF CONDITION 


As of the Close of Business December 31, 1923 


ee OR Re AS 


Cash in Banker eS MN Tee, A ANTE Dasha 2 $ 3,418.41 
A dvAnGeSforhwls Oa Isiee errr ee ese eee deg cee 16,698.61 
$20,117.02 


PPAR ENOTES oly Sky HIP hE AS 


Geérieral. Fund 2(Seli-S apport) meee nse ence $20,117.02 


218 


APPENDIX N 


Hiram E. Decker 
Certified Public Accountant 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO /, ,— 


INDUSTRIAL WORK SHOPS 


J 


Statement of Condition as of the Close of Business December 31, 1923 


Rave ows UPR CES 
DS Pog RO aKa) ANCE 0 Coen Senet SOA ire ON alee ane $ 100.00 


West Side Trust & Savings Bank—Chicago 224.35 


Accounts Receivable: 


Bi iet mee. CROUELL Streets etn ireg nse sate c3 toe $ 4,671.46 
Jewish Social Service Bureau. .................. 156.00 
Inventories—Merchandise on Hand: 
SOO Mme antmien ts see. iets. es. $ 4,076.55 
Se wile s Department i256 --1 222... 3,964.07 
Hand Sewines Departinent 52.002. 0 se. 2,633.70 
Ripe Ce OOD ALE EN i ac-os fav c55o-c0es koe easels 1,238.23 
VOC ea Puhletiere nf a.g ee 113.62 
OAS CS abe aS PN i er 288.67 
PEATION CVs ACmEFINtIN® mo. o secs sn ee tscetina 273.44 
(ON jer SORE (DY ay a/R RN. ge, CORON tone ae Ueda a eee ee 54.90 
Machinery and Equipment: 
Administration Building Equipment ........ $ 3,474.30 
PHICTILie rane Ur eeures! aie ee 1,783.93 
ib Raa gecesi OS 0S Ee aL Mae oe ae 3,112.04 » 
$ 8,370.27 
Less . 
Reserve tor Depreciation 22.0c.c.cs.n5 5. 1,204.25 
i gexmincuerits iranCewe ee teet ee el 2 is 
TA Aa ee tas ie Pans 
WOLCS ma Va Diels eae See ss cory ee I ae 
PA CCOUL Sia AD LOM aN cae eA Lote er eee 


Capital Funds: 


Capita lees ee ee ee ie ee Shas SVM PRS $ 6,884.48 
CSOTIETADUTIO Ge ees Ree a ae ee ed Aa 3,020.94 
Malle Fin de t,t oe peer ele rer ee nl dh 3.12 
Associated Jewish Charities..........020.......-... 14,310.00 
$24,218.54 

Profit and Loss Account—Page 19....°...0.. 8,461.69 


219 


$ 324.35 


4,827.46 


12,243.18 


7,166.02 
129,92 


$24,690.93 


$ 500.00 
8,434.08 


$8,934.08 


15,756.85 


$24,690.93 


(T) 
(‘T) 


gs‘zer'c $ (1)S0'082_ $ (1)06%r $ (d)FOZOLIT$ (T)POOEST$ CI)IS 28 $ 
9T'8Sz C7 WS eee ean whe ee a p89ZI Obl 19°¢ apes pausegq pnoosiq 
CAlhe es Desa o> L0G TOL $= (da J0L9C6 5 >) CLUS VOO1 o GCE S20 Bk ae os ““Sso'T 10 WYO1d JON 
98'0Ss°Z $ Ssirel  $ egiZse $ cS Z0r'l $ 86'82Z'¢ $ SO IZ6'T $ 
Mis ue es ae C7, ie ee ar oe ee COC rS ITI Seca syuswaoe[ day pue sareday 
Corhr ma a eer 06'T 86°7S £e°SOl LS°€6 eae esusdxy eYO 
Sc eee a 86°25 Ize 97° £9 Ale emma Nie x So4n}XIy] 
pue oinyiuiny uo uoljenoidad 
6 ITE SZ rl 0S°2 0ST LL YS1 p9°Le ~~ ApourpIeyy UO wo!eI041d9q] 
O€ 18s soe cy'8 1$°¢Z OL TIT Oleh “ssoidxy pue zYslo1y ‘9de}1e) 
eZses SO'LI ec'cl bS°S0Z LS p02 f0.S0st = oar sesuedxy [e19ua4) 
BRC Cy ae CClless 00°08S €2°6S6'T OS2PL aero SOLB]VS SNOsUeTJIOSI | 
Ce cage aiges see BS Ee gZtrs § Lres0't $ 2590 5S ee eerie SoHEjeS 290 
bite See ee es See ee Es oe Bed eS Bee ees sosuodxy 
(a)rL098'r $ (T)er'ort $ (T)LO'SEI_ $ (a)eMEEE TS (A)BPPOLTS (A)ESEPOL $ ~~ ae Seed SEAR TBI 59, 
92°9£0'8r$ cz'6s9  $ 66 TZS'T$ S6'0ze'8 $ 66°S8S'91$ 19°868'0c$ 
£1929 Il co CUI eZ 8ET7'T OL e£9'Z LO'P9S'E SO°OL0 eke es Fee een eZ6l 
‘T¢ Joquisd9q7—A10}JUIAUT SSo’T 
£6'799'6S$ y3'24Z_$ cc O18‘Z$ $9'rS6 01$ 90°0S 1 0z$ 9L'SL6 bc$ | 
by ses’ ZI $690 OZ TLE | PoOOL'e 8e°Pz9'9 LEGCO 9 sae tie oF each eae JoqeT 39911q 
99°999'9¢ 68°S9Z 98°9SE'T 8z'Sb8'9 pS Ses tt OOS ED ee es 39 N—Soseyoin 
DET ao ee aan OV'Z81 £0°€00'T r1069'T 0928S eae €Z6l ‘I eR Gis 
06°968'zS$ os'zIs $ c69Eh I$ LS'pS9'01$ Ly'0Se'st$ bl cre tz$ oe 2 
SO gap at Cent a ee $79 OL 88°S8I COC ae he Steak SIDUBMO} 
-[V pue sjyunoosiq, S9[e¥g sso’T 
8Z OPT ess oscIs $ LVerr i$ L9°PS9'01$ seoes BIg GL OO Op en genie eee ein es gts 
[230L yusujiedsq yuswijyIedaq yuswuzIedaq qustwzIedaq quounsiedsqg 
ireday 3s0y4s ay xey pue sny yIOM pueTy BSUIMIS woolig 
CZ6L ‘TE Joquis.0q Suipuy 1e9X% oY} JO yUNOXIV sso pue WZYOIg 94} SUIMOYS JUdL9}e}G 
SdOHS MYOM IVINLSNGNI ODVOIHD AO NVAANA ADIAAAS TVIOOS HSIMAl 
H 2[npeqas JuRJUNOIIY Iqng peyyiseg Isyoeq “WT wei 


O XIGQNUddV 


APPENDIX P 


John K. Laird & Company 
Certified Public Accountants 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


Exhibit B 


Statement of Income and Expenditures for the Year ending 


December 31, 1924 


Income: 

Jewish (Charities ole Chicago: ./2..--...... $389,000.00 

Interest Earned on Investments ............ 4,592.50 

Unclaimed Checks Written off................ 32.98 
Ota el MeO Gert se). 

Relief: Deere) Lolo U RES 
Regular es Mowomces meets... --a2sc¢22-----;------ $ 37,482.17 
Clene Gale Cpe iS oe eee ek cde cnc cee eeneeae 39,298 .25 
Emergency MAllowances i222 .2...-...-.-. 63,881.86 
Paereks gegeheley od Wey) Nt > jet yee 41,825.88 
Industrial pisphsose ak 2. COG ha rr 20,605.00 
TPR ee RS Bk epic TON ils 2 ae 7,600.17 
Bae WR ENR ei Se 21,671.86 
By LC Se ee a eee 2,696.45 
House Mirmisiin comer ee A. 6,647.33 
CNet ir oy ere ee ese 7,758.51 
Workshop Srameroon = heute eee a 444.53 

Expense: 

Se Ree obine a NA ee te ol oe ae nr 142,706.36 
TROT t tee gat eeee eee men ee nr See) 5,880.00 
Greneral exper sonnel 4,113.84 
‘belephonletanuebelreerap ie. ..clctc-c.s, 3,268.12 
COM GOAT DO ies ee te cee oly be tetdectse. 1,833.35 
CGanlare..5 gener nem ee omer ek 1.264.72 
Dep eeClatigiim ee mrrer eee i Son Tc 946.05 
sna NSDOtLatio lin temeae te  e  e 647.72 
A? COSTAL et pee ee es es | Na 784.26 
IgSurance, eee ee fe COA | 

161,697.13 


otavreexpenditures. 2..-.:)-......: 


Excess Expenditures over Income for ‘the 
year ended December 31, 1924.................... 


221 


emo eee ae Uh ND 


$393,625.48 


$249,912.01 


411,609.14 


$ 17,983.66 


APPENDIX Q 


John K. Laird & Company 
Certified Public Accountants 


Exhibit A 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 


THE SELF-SUPPORT DEPARTMENT 


Balance Sheet as of December 31, 1924 


AES Sete lias 

C225 hi Ps oe cee ten es eds oak cen dn $ 4,172.23 
ADVANI CESina renee eet kc be ek Se ee Ee ee ee 21,299.92 

$25,472.15 

Dd aM ea elon ead Bd Red Ok 

ACOQUTIEBE Pa yap iG ue icc ae dee eee ee, eee eae ae $ 188.79 
Stirpls’s 75 seen ce See ee Sa Oe ae eh ae 25,283.36 

$25,472.15 


2A2 


APPENDIX R 


John K. Laird & Company 
Certified Public Accountants 


JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE BUREAU OF CHICAGO 
INDUSTRIAL WORKSHOPS 


Exhibit A 


Balance Sheet as at December 31, 1924 


AR Sao tcme las 
Current Assets: 


Cash in Bank and on hand, Account No.1 $ 457.16 
Cash in Bank and on hand, Account No.2 1,893.61 $ 2,350.77 


AecoUunts ReCcelVaDlew | rade. in. tne acre 9,007.38 

Inventories, Raw Materials, Work-in- 
Process, and Finished Stock ............ 15,715.08 
Total Current Assets ................ $27,073.23 


Fixed Assets: 


Improvements to Land and Building, 
Equipment, Furniture and Fixtures, 


and @Miscellaneous, 012s een eee $14,211.06 
Less: Reserve for Depreciation ................ 2,333.31 
Lotaltlixed@Acsetem 2 ewes: 11,877.75 
$38,950.98 
CSAS Belvicclie® ol aes 
Current Liabilities: 
Accounts Payable, Account No. 1............ $ 6,098.68 
Accounts Payable, Account No: 22.22... 707.46 $ 6,806.14 
General Fund: 
Surplus Balance. December 31, 1923........ $15,756.85 
Add: Net Income for the year ended 
December 31, 1924, Exhibit B............ 16,387.99 32,144.84 
| Surplus Balance, December 31 1924........ $38,950.98 


223 


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